To Break a Mind
by EmperorJoker09
Summary: Joker and Harley. It's truly quite simple to break a mind, especially when you have such a willing participant. Read how Joker uses his own dark tricks to snap Harley's already brittle mind. Setting: Arkham Asylum Dark/Angst/Romance
1. Welcome Back

**_Please note that I sadly do not own anything related to DC comics...I am but their humble servent._**

**_Hope you enjoy 'To Break a Mind'_**

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Welcome Back

"Welcome to Arkham Asylum Mr. Joker sir. We hope to deliver a promising transition from your current state to that of a more stable one by introducing various and new ways of channeling through to your unique and individual problems. Because the staff members at Arkham Asylum understand that you are unique and are an individual compared to everyone else around you."

Joker was held strongly by two large men on either side of him. The one on his left had a short beard and smelled like an old tattered and used diaper that never got thrown out, and the one on his right looked like he could just use a good fuck. They both, like trained dogs, began to frisk him harshly.

"Oh you have a fetish for clowns do you?" Joker bit his bottom lip speaking feverishly.

The two men didn't seem to be bothered by Jokers statement and continued on with their business.

Joker whispered to the men, "Let's make it quick before anyone sees." He laughed loud and the entire staff located in the 'welcoming' room went dead quiet.

His laughing ceased and he turned his head around to see what could have possibly caused the sudden halt in production. The four of them entered a room shortly after.

"We at Arkham Asylum Mr. Joker, simply want to make you better. We hope and will strive to accomplish that feat as long as you are willing to work hard and devote you're time to helping yourself!"

_Well aren't you just a peppy little shit. By the way you overdosed robotic hag, I like the way I am, I don't want to change. So if you'll kindly just let me go on my merry little way…_

"Now," the 'hag' ,as The Joker had called her, motioned for him to sit in a large chair, "please take a seat so we can begin the questioning process!" The two large men left them alone.

_Yay I'm just as excited as you are! Excited about when that opportune moment comes along so I can snap your wrinkly neck…_

"First thing, please state your name along with the correct spelling."

Joker wiped his nose with his shoulder and cleared his throat, "Joker J-O-K-E-R."

The hag looked up from her desk, "Your proper name please."

_How the hell can you be so bubbly, it's odd…_

He smiled, "Oh excuse me." Clearing his throat once more he continued, "The Joker T-H-E space J-O-K-E-R."

_Maybe you are human hag. Finally you're showing some annoyance._

"We'll come back to that." She lifted her pen and dabbed it on the tip of her gray tongue, "How old are you?"

Joker furrowed his brow together and let his eyes travel upward, "I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I'm now five. Maybe six, but I'm pretty sure five."

"Five?" Her once happy personality was now draining quickly.

_Did I not just explain myself to you? I said five! Maybe six, but I'm pretty sure five. What's so hard about this?_

"Correct!" He nodded his head and began to examine the room.

Joker brought his attention back to her after he noticed the long pause between the questioning. The two were all alone in the 'incredibly too bright for Jokers liking' room and they stared at each other, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"You know, let's skip the personal information questions and move right along to the evaluation process shall we?"

He tilted his head back and smiled, "Lets."

"What year is it?"

"This year?" He perked his eyebrows up.

The hags sagging eyes looked to the side and then back at The Joker, "Yes."

"2008."

"Good, okay where are you right now?"

Joker smiled at that one, "Can you be more specific?"

"Location." She wrote down a couple of things on the evaluation sheet.

He noticed her writing and rose up in his seat slightly to look at the paper. Sadly the hag noticed his noticing and slyly covered the paper with her hand. He sat back down with a nod.

"Well in reality, as you people call it, I'm obviously in this room." Joker rested his elbow on the arm of the seat and propped his head up with his hand.

_Honestly isn't it quite ostensible that I'm in this dreadfully bright room?_

She gave a caring smile, "Reality, as we call it?"

He glanced at his blackening nails, "Yes."

The hag waited patiently for a while, "Do you care to further explain?"

"You aren't my doctor, you're just the sickly looking…thing that evaluates how crazy I am. I'll save you the trouble, write this down…you ready?"

Her eyes questioned him.

"Psychopath…" He seemed completely fine by deeming himself that.

Joker saw that she wasn't writing anything down onto the paper, he cleared his throat once more, "Do you need more than that?" He waited for a response but she kept quiet.

_Oh come now, I didn't even do anything to scare you yet. Why so intimidated?_

"I am a primary and secondary psychopath."

She finally spoke, "How can you be both?"

Joker rubbed his hands quickly together and then stretched them out in front of him waiting until he heard a pop and then gently folded his hands onto his lap, "A primary psychopath does not respond to punishment, apprehension, stress, or disapproval. Frankly I could give a shit about these things. I am able to inhibit antisocial impulses, not because of conscience I must inform you, but because it suits my purpose at the time. A secondary psychopath is a risk taker, and I am a risk taker! They are daring, adventurous, unconventional people who play by their own rules. So you can see I'm just a tad of both, and just a tad not of both. Because you must understand that secondary psychopaths expose themselves to more stress, it may seem like I am indeed exposing myself by taking risks, but no, it actually relieves it."

She sat in awe as Joker continued.

This time he let his eyes travel away from her orchestrating his words with utmost ease, "Then you have distempered psychopaths, and charismatic psychopaths. Again I have a bit of both in my blood, but I tend to lean to charismatic." He paused and smiled wide, "I mean just look at me, I'm irresistible, egotistical, and I can read you like a damn book."

The hag shook her head and then grinned, "Mr. Joker, I believe we can help you. You know exactly what your problem is! No denial that is the first step to a healthy recovery."

_What a dumb shit…_

Joker scrunched his nose in haste, "You don't seem to understand, I like the way I am. Egotistical! I like it!"

_Don't put that smug grin on your face._

"You've been here before haven't you?" She finally looked on her computer to see his records.

…_Do you even know who you're talking to? I'm The Joker…come now._

"Yes, this will be my fourth time." He held up four fingers in the air.

Her face widened in fear as she read the reports and came across pictures of his murders, "How many people have you killed?"

"Oh, I don't know. Over a thousand…just under two thousand…like I said I'm not sure. Oh you're a sports fan!" He looked at one of the shelves on her book case, it had been dedicated to various sports teams.

"Why, yes I am. Give me just one second while I figure out who your doctor will be this time."

_This time, psh…_

"I like sports myself. Especially good ol' football!" His tone got deeper as he went, "I mean what's funnier than a bunch of grown men running into each other over a leather ball. Okay so it's not the funniest thing, but gives me a good tickle when I see one snap their leg in two, or even a fight break out. Let's me know that people out there are fighting for worthless things, let's me realize just how worthless they are."

"Yes, quite nice."

He looked back up at her and laughed lightly, "So whose the good doctor this time?"

Her eyes squinted at the computer screen, "Doctor Harleen Quinzel will be your doctor."

"Oh, I haven't heard of her before, is she new?" Joker sat back in his seat waiting for a response, he looked quite interested.

"She's been here for about two months and she is good, very good, at what she does. Top of her class, youngest person to graduate with a psychology degree, she is incredible no doubt about that."

He smiled, "Ah, a challenge…tell me, how long do you think it will take for me to break her?"

The hag seemed fed up with his last remark, "Your first appointment with her will begin in fifteen minutes, I'm sure you know the routine by now."

"Yes, true. Any bets going around on when I'll break out again? What's your bet, maybe I can help you earn a little cash. You mortals seem to like that green stuff a whole hell of a lot…" Joker muffled his laugh upon ending.

"At least we earn our money respectively with jobs." She spoke hastily under her breath.

He shot a dark look at her, "Pardon I didn't seem to catch that last bit."

She stood up shaking her head softly from side to side, "Mr. Joker I didn't say anything. Now let's go meet your new doctor shall we?"

Joker sucked on the inside of his cheek and pushed his lower lip out. His eyes narrowed contemplatively over her appearance.

_Yes, I do believe for that little remark, you will die…_

"Respectively with jobs? At least we earn our money respectively with _jobs_?" He tossed his hand to the side, "Is that what you said?"

The hag sat back down tentatively, "Yes that is what I said, and I apologize for allowing my emotions to come out in such a manner."

_Apologizing isn't going to make you safe, seriously who are you to think so little of me. I am your superior and you will act appropriately to such a standing._

Joker stood up and cracked his neck, "I have been quite nice to you and your so called 'job'. I have not lashed out, caused trauma or chaos, I haven't even allowed my thoughts about killing you to slither out. But since you have been so inconceivably rude to me and my 'needs' I shall see to it that you receive a very appropriate punishment."

He walked towards her with full dark eyes, an eerie smile that looked like blood seeped from it, an overall dramatic darkness nearing her.

About ten minutes later the two same burly guards entered the small office room. The tattered diaper one pulled out a walkie-talkie, "We need back-up in room J 639 ASAP."

Joker was standing in front of the book case with his hands carefully folded behind his back. He examined the sports shelf carefully and then looked over at the two guards, "Is it time to meet my new doctor yet? I'm getting a little anxious." He snickered to himself.

"What did you do to her?" The one who needed to be fucked _badly_ couldn't take his eyes off of the bloody mess located behind the oak table.

Joker turned himself around and then jumped back when he saw the hag. Blood ran down her wrinkled face, seeping down into every crease in her face. Apparently the pen she had been using to write with was now lodged in her frontal lobe.

"Oh my…who could have done that?" He smiled evilly while he placed his hands into his coat pockets.

She was slowly dying as her body shook violently about on the floor.

"I swear I was just talking to her a minute ago too…bastards these days, sneaking up on little old women when you least expect it." He shook his head and frowned, "A shame really…"

The bearded man grabbed Jokers hands and cuffed them behind him. Joker didn't fight it but he did protest, "You think I did that to her? Well, I never!"

The man kneed him in the back causing Joker to fall to the floor. He felt the pressure pin point on his spine as the man fell onto Jokers back to keep him down.

"Oh yea I remember, you got one of those weird fetishes for clowns!" Joker laughed, "Make sure to be quiet about it, don't want to raise any _suspicions_." For that the right side of his face was dug harshly into the ground with the bearded mans elbow.

He laughed harder, "Can we discuss a safe word before we begin?"

The walkie-talkie spoke back, "We're on our way, what's the code?"

"Code 09"

"Ah, yes good ol' code 09! A very special code made just for The Joker. And you all say you don't like me here…"

"Enough clown." He breathed heavily into his left ear.

The other man knelt down next to the now still woman and pulled her eye lids down out of respect. He turned his head towards Joker, "You're fucking sick…"

Joker closed his eyes and smiled, "Not sick…balanced…rational…" He was stopped by a serious blow to the back of his head.

Joker sighed, "Well, that wasn't very kind of you."

_You're on the list…congratulations!_

A rush of about six people entered the room and Joker was brought to his feet. Each person grabbed some part of him, a leg, an arm, his head, or his torso. Joker didn't fight it though, he rather enjoyed the attention.

Another man walked in after a brief second and stood before The Joker. This man glanced down at the dead woman and closed his eyes tightly together, "Welcome back to Arkham Joker…I'm sure you see just how pleased we are to have you back with us."

He couldn't help but smile, "I sense a hint of sarcasm, but no matter! It's great to be back Arky!"

Doctor Arkham shook his head and began to leave the room disgusted by Jokers presence, "Get him into the inmate suit, then put him into his room J 29."

"I hope you didn't disturb my room at all, I left it just the way I liked it before I escaped last time." Joker shouted out to Arkham.

_Two dead officers…yes I liked the look…_

Three men held onto Joker as they escorted him out of the room. Staff members watched him in complete fear.

_Oh how I love Arkham! They give such great looks of emotions!_

One man now, as they reached the dressing rooms, pushed Joker into the room. He followed him and handed him the gray suit to put on.

Joker grinned sheepishly at him, "You gonna watch?"

"I have to." He stated firmly and held a tazor gun in his mitts.

He shrugged and began to undress from his purple wardrobe, "Everyone around here just seems to have a thing for clowns I guess. Can't say I blame em' either, I'm pretty damn adorable huh?"

The guard kept quiet.

"Strong silent type…" Joker jumped into his new skin and wiggled his arms to let the fabric fit more comfortably around him, "Ah! I feel at home already!"

Joker was shoved out back into the hallway forcefully, causing him to stumble and hit the wall with his shoulder on the opposite side of the room. The same people grabbed him once again and led him down the hall to his room.

He smiled at the regular inmates, who all in return cowered to the back of the rooms. Passing nurses and doctors all seemed to turn their heads away from his dark charisma, but he would just keep looking at them, and laugh quietly during the ride.

One doctor though, and Joker could see her at the very end of the hall way near his room, stared at him with a passion. A passion that showed she wasn't afraid of him…how dare she.

They stopped in front of his room and a guard slid his card through the access meter on the wall. A red light blinked three times and then a green one appeared, resulting in a hissing noise caused by the opening door.

Joker looked down at the doctor, and she looked up at him. They didn't show any emotion, just studied one another for the time. He managed to catch a glimpse of her name tag, 'Quinzel', before he was rushed into his room and set down on the cot.

He didn't take his eyes off of her, and she didn't take hers off of him. They patted him down again making sure he didn't have any weapons of any sort and then satisfied with their search, left securing the door behind them.

So now it was just the two of them, looking at one another through a clear door. Guessing what the other one was thinking.

Joker would not take his glare away first. She had to know he was her superior and that it was only right of her to look away first.

Dr. Quinzel blinked and then glanced down at her clipboard. Joker smiled and noticed his room had been cleaned of the dead bodies he had so nicely organized in his abode.

_Assholes…took me a while to get them just right._

He looked back at his new doctor and met with her eyes again. He winked quickly and then positioned himself onto his back on the cot. He crossed his legs and folded his hands behind his head whistling to his own unique tune.

He listened to her tap her pencil on the clipboard and then begin to walk away, the clunking of her heels against the cement floor of the asylum. Joker smiled as he stopped his tune, he then gently crawled across his bed to the window. Pressing both of his hands against the door, watching her walk away to her next patient, and then the next.

Her blond hair in a bun, white lab coat with an under shirt and tie combo, a skirt that stopped just above her knees, and small heeled shoes…what was she trying to accomplish?

And those idiotic large round glasses that hid those blue eyes of hers. Joker tsked a few times and then fell back onto his cot once his new doctor disappeared from view. He shook his head from side to side. That was _his_ new doctor? Arkham Asylum delivered a seemingly plain and underdeveloped top of her class _new_ doctor to help 'heal' him? The greatest and most known notorious villain? He covered his face with his arm and then cracked his lips as he smiled from ear to ear.

_They didn't tell me she was fucking gorgeous…_

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**_Please leave a review and let me know if you want me to continue this story or not~~_**

**_This Joker is very dark, and sadistic...compared to my other stories where he is a bit more loving. Please let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy~_**


	2. A Special Thought

A Special Thought

He lay silently on the cot in his room. His hands folded together on his chest as he hummed softly to an invisible tune.

He listened to the flutter of wild footsteps hurry down the hall corridors, along with the sounds of momentary shrieks of terror that plunged themselves deep into his murderous inferno of a mind. And although these cries, which were so humbly produced by his inmate neighbors, calmed him to a point of complete restfulness, they also annoyed him vigorously beyond true belief.

He should be the one causing their deathly bellows. He should be the one conducting the orchestra of physical and emotional pains to these pathetic souls. He should be able to make them plea and beg for their meaningless lives.

Not some moth that happened to justify its way into one of their rooms unseen.

Yes, he should have the ultimate right. He would even make sure that the tortures were well…fun! At least to him they would be, and who cares what those inadequate souls would think anyways, as long as he enjoyed it then everything was just grand. Besides, his fellow inmates were rather dull, he would be doing the staff an immense favor by ridding them of these useless and savage bodies.

He chuckled at a low tone, an ominous and devil filled tone that made him smile with glee. He crossed his left leg over his right and allowed his mind to wander about and create amusing images of the various ways he could exterminate and play with the patients.

Perhaps a game of Joker roulette would do. It always made him surge with a swelled gut when he could watch the ill minded pull a gun and shoot a friend.

Especially when he was the one responsible for them doing it…

Or maybe a little mental game for the mental patient, that sounded good. He could easily twist his words around and around their bright and booming subconscious to make them feel withered and exhausted. Eventually they would scream out and fall to the floor twitching and convulsing, pawing with great strokes at their eyes, begging to God that the humiliation stop. Yes…to God.

This made him grab his stomach as he let out a wicked and lengthy laugh. To God, come now. He is God!

However to know that these so called humans thought that there was someone mightier than him, well it was down right hilarious. After all, they were the ones who stated that God controls their fate and not themselves. If this was true, then why would he not be God?

Simple yet complex, the way Joker loved it. He controlled fate and he ruled it, so truly why was he not considered God? He even controlled his own fate, no way in hell would he let some…thing control him, he would have no part in that.

He was also hell, also heaven, and everything else. He was everything from the heavenly tip down to the bottomless abyss. Everything. He was in control. He could do anything he wanted, when he wanted, where he wanted, _who_ he wanted…anything. But he just let everyone think that they had control over him. It would just be too much for their tiny minds to handle if he tried to explain it to them.

That was the reason for the jokes, the laughter, because they couldn't get it. Even when he explained it through the simplest of things, jokes, they didn't get it! Amazing. It made him laugh.

So in conclusion to his laughing fit, it was simply because they were begging for _him_ to stop the humiliation. Now why would he want to stop the humiliation, when he purposefully caused it in the first place? How silly.

He digressed himself from his primary thoughts and back to the games he could play with the sickly in Arkham. How he loved to watch them squirm as they died…

There was something about watching a body jerk and shake violently and uncontrollably. To see a muscle or body part go into a repetitive spasm, to see their soul unwillingly leave through the dying ones eyes. It was just too beautiful and too awakening to do just once.

So why not do it again?

And again?

He imagined his latest victim, the hag. It made his libido jump sky high, the way she shook, the way she bled. The pain she must have been feeling…

It was just too perfect, too lovely that he could feel himself twitch lightly beneath his new gray Arkham pants. He bit his lip to stop the all too pleasant feeling of his arousal growing.

Tis not the time to have fun with thy self.

He pulled himself up off of the cot and briskly walked to the door. He patiently waited until a nurse walked by. He gently tapped the glass and she stopped hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if I was going to be able to get a chance to speak with my new doctor. You see they said about, oh say a half hour ago, that I was going to see her." He pressed his forehead against the door, "I'm just so excited."

She started to walk away still looking at his smile that never seemed to fade away when he spoke with someone. Her breath got heavy as his eyes never stopped following with her, "I'll look into it."

Joker waved at the leaving nurse, "How thoughtful!"

Once she was out of view, he placed his hands into the pant pockets of his suit and turned around on the heel of his foot. He kicked at the dust with his sock covered feet until he ended his adventure at the wall opposite the entrance to his room.

He stared at the blank wall, the musty colored white wall that was seemingly smooth. You could tell that they plastered over it although, covered up his beautiful art work that helped him get through the dreaded and boring days here at Arkham.

He placed the tip of his white finger on the right side of the wall, and then delicately dragged it along until he had taken two steps. He smiled and kept his finger in its spot. This was a special drawing…right where his finger lay.

The drawing of his first kill as The Joker.

He smiled wider remembering the gore of that night, marvelous. He cocked his head to the side and let his eyes travel up about six inches from where his finger now rested, Batsy had been drawn exceptionally well there.

Blood and entwined intestines falling out of his wide open stomach, a missing arm, two little x's for eyes, the whole bit was fantastic.

He felt his libido urge again resulting in him taking his eyes over to the cot. He gracefully walked over to the small bed, and then allowed himself to step onto it. He looked up at the ceiling right above where the pillow sat, and smiled wide.

A small white blotch was painted over another one of his works, it had been his first doctor here. A true depiction of what he had looked like at the end of their first session together.

A jagged slit in his throat with the blood pouring and gushing out of it. He didn't have a knife, so he had to use a pencil that was on his doctor's desk, it worked just fine.

That was also his first day at Arkham. It was wondrous.

He heard a knock on the door, and turned around calmly.

"Your doctor will see you now." A male nurse this time with cuffs and chains in hand waited for his response.

Joker jumped down and held his hands behind his back. But not without an over exaggerated smile, "Oh joy!"

The nurse swiped the access card and then went inside as the door opened. Joker was chained by the legs giving him only enough pleasure to walk, and was also cuffed by the wrists. The nurse led him out and down the hall. A bright and happy face stuck cleanly on Joker.

They stopped in front of a room with a name placard placed on the middle of the door. Joker read it, 'Dr. Harleen Quinzel' and an excited rush spread through him.

The nurse knocked a few times on the door as a courtesy, and then opened it up. A gust of air flew across Jokers face as he was pushed inside. He looked over at the desk and to his amazement no one resided there.

"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic if you ask me." Joker was set down in a seat and securely fastened.

"She'll be back in a few minutes." With that, the nurse left.

Joker sat alone, and he licked his lip in a bit of frustration. He had been ready to see his doctor, quite ready to start the process of breaking her mind. The first step was to understand who she was. Dance around and step all over her gorgeous little body until he had discovered what future steps he would need to take in order to snap her.

He figured she was a relationship kinda gal, and relationship type people were somewhat more challenging, well depending on the relationship they wanted. With Doctor Harleen Quinzel, it sounded like a _love_ relationship is what she fantasized about.

He looked around the office, scanning bits of pieces here and there. He stopped his bolting eyes on her desk to notice a small book with pieces of paper hanging out in random pages. He managed to get a glimpse of the binding, The Flame and the Flower.

Joker instantly rolled his eyes. Yes, quite the _love_ relationship. He hated that, he was going to have to be sweet and charming with a dash of his charismatic psychopathic tendencies needed. But no matter, breaking her will be fun. A bit challenging, but a challenge none the less was needed.

So if his doctor to be was so interested in the relationship of…_love_, then he would have to figure out what was to be done. Become her friend firstly.

Second, the attraction process, introduce to her a positive and well balanced attitude beyond friendship. Either a physical or emotional attraction would need to be introduced first. Since she was a doctor he bet that the emotional phase would be an ideal place to start.

The hard part, for him at least, was the balanced attitude. He will admit that even he, The Joker has a bit of a flaw in that department…at least to others. He liked his attitude.

He popped his neck still patiently waiting and adjusted his seating to elevate him up higher.

The third step, one that would be just torture to his inner being, was _romance_. He wanted to throw up when he thought about it. Yes, she was going to be a challenge alright. He had to provide selfish and selfless romance. Selfish, psh that was easy, he did that all day long of course. Selfless? Eh, he didn't have much of a libido towards anything besides death…pure blissful death.

Next was passion, desire that has grown to an intensity that can not be ignored. Basically get her wrapped around his long white…finger. That one made him smile, a willing participant to that and he'd be set to go.

Then you add some intimacy, some close association with the deepest nature. That one was sure to bring surprises. Surely it would.

And last but not least in any amount, commitment. To get her to always remain true to him, to get her to always want to go out of her way to do something for him, no matter what the cost.

He felt his cock twitch. That was new.

He tilted his head to the side, and repeated his thought.

To get her to always remain true to him, to get her to always want to go out of her way to do something for him.

_No matter what the cost_.

Joker felt himself grow slightly. Ah, so he had a libido that not only enjoyed death through sadistic measures, but also one that enjoyed a bit of undying loyalty.

Perfect really, maybe she had some other uses besides amusement…maybe she could get him out of here…

Maybe she could even be used outside of Arkham, as a distraction.

Maybe…

In all due time he would be able to tell. The second she enters this room, the way she walks to her desk, the way she sits down, how many seconds it takes for her to make eye contact with him, how long it takes for her to first speak…they all were a message of how she would need to be broken. And he just couldn't be joyous enough to find out if he already nailed her down to his own agenda, if he was spot on about her…

He heard the door open after a brief knock and he couldn't help but crack his lip as he smiled. She would be perfect in everyway.

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**_Please leave a review!_**

**_This chapter was needed to introduce how Joker really thinks, next chapter will have much more dialouge...if you've read my other stories you know just how much I love dialogue!!!_**

**_Thanks~_**


	3. To Truly Meet

To Truly Meet

Dr. Quinzel entered her office noticing Joker sitting in the chair, "Afternoon…sorry about being a little late, I had deal with your splendid welcoming gift."

He angled his head and nodded. So she had a bit of humor, awfully nice to have.

She scurried pass him and set her clipboard down onto her desk. She let out a heavy sigh as she sat in her chair and opened one of the drawers. She searched for a few seconds before pulling out a thick folder, "Here we are."

She slammed it onto her desk and then placed her hands onto the arms of her chair, lightly tapping her fingers across them and watching the folder as if it were about to perform a trick, "You know, that's an awfully large folder you got going."

Joker leaned forward and examined the size of it, "That's _my_ folder?"

Dr. Quinzel nodded and then took hold of her clipboard, "Yup." She started flipping through the various sheets, "And then when I'm done writing up the report of your gift, you'll end up needing a binder instead of this folder." She tossed the clipboard back onto the desk.

"It's quite large, I'm rather impressed with myself!" Joker let out a small chuckle and leaned back against the seat.

She looked up from her desk finally and made eye contact with him. She wasn't frightened or weary, "Care to explain why you would kill that woman?"

Joker shot his eyes at her in a preposterous state, "You think _I _could have done those horrible and degrading things to such a helpless old woman?" He shook his head and closed his eyes, "Why it's completely rude of you to make such a questionable accusation against me." He opened his eyes back up and looked at her with a smile.

She tapped a pencil on the table, one leg crossed over the other, "I do think you could have done those horrible and degrading actions towards such a woman of her stature." Dr. Quinzel opened up the folder to a random section and slipped her glasses on peering down at the page.

She placed her finger down onto a picture, "Here, it says that you, and I quote, 'tore the arms and legs off of a middle aged man…" She looked up at him to still see his wide smile and then continued on while shaking her head, "…and then seemingly carved the word 'HA!' repeatedly into the mans torso and face…'" She made eye contact with him again, "Ring a bell?"

Joker smiled remembering that day, it had been worthy enough to receive a special drawing area in his room. But those idiotic overgrown apes had ruined them by painting and plastering over them, bastards. He snapped out of his flashback, "Nope."

"Alright…" Dr. Quinzel flipped to another page, "Oh this one is sure to create some sparks," She smoothed back her hair and then read a newspaper clipping, "The Joker strikes again. Slaying thirty three people over a…" She scrunched her face and looked shocked, glancing back at him to finish the statement, "rubber ducky fall out?" She closed the folder and cleared her throat, her eyes blinking in wonder, "Care to explain that one?"

He stared at her blankly, "I didn't kill thirty three people over some rubber ducky's, what an allegation! Mind to show me that article?"

She shrugged and stood up after retrieving the article from the folder. She made her way over to him and held it out for him to read.

Joker read the article mumbling the sentences to himself, "I could have sworn I killed at least thirty six…"

Dr. Quinzel pulled it away quickly as she listened to his god-awful laugh. She sat back down in her chair and examined his laughing fit, "So, I might as well introduce myself properly. I'm Doctor Harleen Quinzel, I'll be your new doctor this time around. I feel confident that we can get through your problem if we just help one another out."

"Problem? What problem do I have? I like being a psycho!" He rolled his eyes around in his head and stuck his tongue out playfully.

She raised her hand up to her chin and held it respectively, "What would you like me to address you as?"

He straightened himself in the seat and spoke with an overall serious tone, "Personally?"

Dr. Quinzel looked hard at him, a little crook in her brow, "Yes?"

Joker smiled wide flashing her, his gorgeous and furious teeth, "Personally I'd like for you to _undress_ me."

She rolled her eyes, "Enough of that, really what would you like me to call you?"

"Joker." He let his eyes travel around the room.

"Okay Joker." She pulled out her lap top from a bag sitting on the side of the desk, "Let's get your activity schedule squared away." The lap top turned on and she began typing and clicking on different applications until she finally pulled up Joker's activity page, "Alright…"

"I'd like to just have alone time if you don't mind, I don't really care too much for…group activities."

She glanced at him in a caring fashion, "Why is that?"

He yawned and shook his head to wake himself up, "Pardon me!"

"Sorry to have bored you." She laughed and clicked on one of the empty slots in his schedule.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, you don't bore me at all. Now to answer your question, I find that the other group members just don't have much pizzazz when it comes to participation. And I always get yelled at when I choose to act lively in group. Really I'm only trying to lighten up the mood."

"You need to have group. You know as well as I do that if you only have time alone with your thoughts, things could get out of hand."

Joker couldn't deny that so he smiled, "Quite true, but I feel like they drive me to complete boredom, and being the guy I am and all it's really not hard to tell that I need to be alone from them after even a short time. Something may arise that wouldn't be too pleasant after all…" He laughed, "I may need to create some fun! If you understand what I'm getting at."

"Yes, yes I do." She paused and let her eyes stare intensely at the screen, "Tell you what, I'll put you into two group activities a day, that's half of what you usually do."

He lifted his chin up, that was rather kind of her. No other doctor would have even considered his request.

"But, I'd like to watch you during a few of your group sessions. If that's alright with you…" she turned her attention back to him.

"Well of course! I find that completely fine." He was somewhat confused at her willingness to understand him, but that just made the breaking even more fun.

"So we'll give you an hour group session at ten in the morning. That way you have an hour to yourself before lunch at twelve. And then an hour and a half session during the afternoon." Her eye twinkled at him, "Does that sound good?"

"Pefect." He let his eye glisten right back at her, "I presume my hour sessions in the morning are that of the talkative therapy where we all get into a circle and converse about our woes?"

She sighed, "Yea, that good routine." Dr. Quinzel started filling in his schedule, "The afternoon one, you get to make some choices."

He spoke up after a short pause, "I've never had a doctor that let me make the choices myself."

She smiled but not at him, "I try to be a good doctor at all costs."

_At all costs…_

"Well, thank you for that." He mentioned in a modest tone.

"You are very welcome, now on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays you have the choice between creative writing and drama." Her eyes met with his.

He noticed how the light from her lap top made her eyes sparkle relentlessly, "Are you serious?"

She rubbed her forehead, "Yea, I know not very entertaining…"

"Are you kidding me!" He could have sky rocketed out of his seat if he wasn't chained down, "The only things I ever got to do in here were group therapy and singing!" He calmed his demeanor and looked down at the ground in remembrance, "Well, besides that one time when they gave me crafts, they won't let me go near paint brushes again, or anything that can be used to shove into a body…"

"I figured that's why the system denied you access to craft sessions."

He smiled, "Which one do you think I should take?"

"In all honestly, I'd think you could release some stress by taking the drama session. It'll get you up and moving around." She waited for his response before typing it into the computer.

_Only killing releases my stress doc…creating mass havoc and chaos!_

"You're an awfully nice doctor…very kind indeed. I'll do that one." He ran his tongue over his top row of teeth beneath his closed mouth.

She typed as she spoke to him, "Well, I figure I might as well be nice to my patients. I'm not going to get anywhere with them if I'm just rude and unpleasant towards their needs." Dr. Quinzel waved her hand in the air as if it helped her explain the kindness she was presenting, "Now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you have a choice of creative writing, yoga, or drawing."

"Yoga?" He laughed and his doctor did as well.

"I take it that doesn't really fit you huh?" She looked over at him with her hands delicately placed beneath her chin.

He couldn't help but smile back, what would it be like when she bled?

"No not really, how about the drawing session, I like to draw if you haven't already heard about that." He winked at her.

She looked away and typed it into her laptop, "I actually have them in this folder. Pictures of them at least."

"You have them? Oh good, I thought they would be lost forever." He relaxed in his chair, he was glad about the news.

"I have to say, they're pretty graphic."

He giggled to himself. She was quite nice, quite charming and smart, and very witty. Very beautiful, in the body and the mind. She would be much fun.

Joker leaned to the side in his chair, "So what about my Sunday?"

Dr. Quinzel finished her scheduling procedure and pushed her laptop out of the way, "Sunday is our time to talk and reflect on the week. We'll have a one hour session, give or take a little time, to just talk and see how you're doing. Sound good?"

He furrowed his brow, "No group sessions at all?"

"Well," she leaned back in her chair, "you'll get to lounge in the television room and _maybe_ if your progress is looking up…_maybe_ we can take some walks out back in the garden. Don't even think though that you can escape from out back. You know it's well guarded with snipers."

He knew he would have no chance to escape that way, "Wouldn't dream of escaping now that I have a good doc on my hands."

She smiled, "Good." She then eyed the clock that sat on the corner of her desk, "Do you have any questions before we wrap up today? Next time we talk, I'm sure we'll have more to discuss. This was just a brief scheduling process."

"Do you mind if I call you Harleen?" A dark glow protruded from him.

She shrugged and stood up, "I don't see any harm in it, sure that's perfectly fine. Anything else?" She walked to the door and grabbed the handle.

Joker leaned back and looked at her, "Nope!"

Harleen smiled, "Alright, someone will be in here briefly to get you back to your room. Have a good day okay?"

It was almost evil the way he spoke, but she didn't seem fazed by it, "And you do the same Harleen."

* * *

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	4. Fast Friendship

Fast Friendship

Joker opened his eyes lazily and then sighed as the morning light from the hall peered over him. The sound of the wake-up alarm beeped loudly overhead, and if he remembered correctly it would only stop after a blistering five minutes. He swung his legs out from under the thin blanket that Arkham had so _generously_ provided him and then groggily stood himself up.

He looked up at the small holes in the corner of the ceiling that hid the speaker. He stretched his back and grunted loudly, "Good morning to as well Mr. Beepy! You always were so happy to see me in the morning, you haven't changed a bit!" He scratched his side, "Can't say though, that I was always happy to hear you…"

The alarm went off again and Joker laughed as it finished, "Well, no need for sarcasm."

He tapped his knuckles on the glass a few times, and a large man appeared after several seconds, "Ready for your morning rituals?"

Joker smiled eerily and nodded with a hint of joy, "Oh yes, just too excited to start this marvelous and lovely morning!" He jumped and clicked his heels together with a large open mouth and arms waving enthusiastically to his sides.

The alarm beeped again and Joker glanced up at it, "Touché my fine combatant."

The door hissed open and Joker was cuffed once again, but this time in the front. He was led to the showering rooms and introduced to a small individual stall. Joker stepped in and the man then unlocked his cuffs, "Shirt off."

Joker giggled childishly, "You guards around here, you all make me laugh." He shook his head lightly, "All of you trying to seduce me and what not." He pulled off his grey Arkham shirt and then was cuffed again.

"You have ten minutes alright?" The guard closed the curtain and took a few steps back.

Joker removed the rest of his clothes, tossing them to the man who waited in close proximity to the shower, "Ten minutes, last time you ridiculous staff people only gave me five."

The man was patient with Joker surprisingly, "Your doctor is Quinzel right?"

Joker turned the water on and his once slicked back hair now fell down to just above his brow line. He gritted his teeth in annoyance to the mans conversational motives but agreed to himself that he would take part in answering the question, "Yes, what is it to you?" an almost snarled answer to his question at that.

He jumped at the hastiness in the response, "I was just curious, that's all."

Joker scrubbed the shampoo he had received from the shower supply area in the corner of the stall. It smelled generic and chemically developed, "Curious?"

The man sat down on a bench in the showering room, "Yea." He ran his fingers through his hair, "I just have a thought about her graduating so easily from her college." He let a pause casually subside, "But then again she is brilliant at what she does so I doubt my accusations."

Joker tapped his index finger on the shower wall, "What would this accusation be?"

The large man scooted in his seat, "Forget I said anything. It wasn't right of me to speak about her, especially to an inmate."

Joker had rinsed the shampoo out and now applied the conditioner to his hair. His eyes flickered madly at the possibilities of the conversation, "I'm a psychotic, do you really think they would believe me if I even did mention whatever it is that's wandering about your mind?"

"Well no, but you're her patient and everything. It's just not appropriate to be talking behind her back like this." He paused for a moment, "Almost finished?"

Joker rinsed the soapy suds off his muscular body, "Quite." He turned off the water and shook his head ruthlessly to rid the excess water.

The guard handed him a towel, "Besides, like I said she's too smart to have done anything I thought she did."

He grabbed the towel and ran it across his body quickly and then received a pair of clean boxers and pants. Joker jumped into them and then appeared from behind the curtain, he allowed the guard to take his cuffs off so he could get into his shirt, "Come now Curious…just tell me. What harm could be brought upon it?"

Joker knew Curious, a name he had now given to the guard, was dying to tell him. And he would die if he didn't, Joker wanted to know what thoughts this simple mind could be shoveling up. Especially if they had to do with his new doctor, he had plans with her of course and he must know every detail, even the slightest aspect about her.

He was cuffed again and this time Curious spilled, "Well, she had to have persuaded some of her teachers. She got straight A's, not just A's but one hundred percent in every single class." Curious scratched his head, "I mean, doesn't it sound like she would have…you know maybe influenced them with her looks or something?"

Joker smiled, what a silly little man. Harleen was no where near that level, she was much higher than that. She was just naturally gifted in the field of psychology, and how dare this fool degrade her as such a loathsome piece of algae, "Perhaps."

The guard quickly looked up at Joker as they walked out of the showering area, "Really? You mean, maybe she did?"

"Well sure, anything is possible. But then again like _you_ had mentioned, she seems to know what she's talking about…that she's _brilliant_." Joker was taken into the next room that was for bathroom activities.

Curious nodded, "Yea you're right." And then he tentatively pulled Joker up to the sink area.

Joker stood in front of the mirror and took in his sight. White vibrant skin, emerald green hair that was at the moment ruffled, red lips that almost seemed to stretch to the sides of his face, a set of dark eyes that had a black shadow permanently surrounding them, and an unnatural set of teeth that glistened frightfully at the world around him. Entirely charming if he didn't say so himself, but he did, "_Charming_."

"Pardon?" The guard questioned his mumbling.

He looked at him through the mirror and Joker raised his emerald green eye brows high, "I asked why you bothered yourself with the indictment."

"Oh," he looked away from Jokers defiant stare, "I just…"

Joker held up his hand hushing Curious to a beat, "Say no more my _friend_, I would be lying if I didn't myself admit that she was that of the more, _attractive side_." He began to brush back his hair smiling just a tad, "It's completely normal to have a little flare growing in your gut Curious."

Joker noticed the petite smile growing on Curious' face. Clearly he felt low compared to her, and he was trying to manipulate his own mind into that dreaded allegation he had dug up in his grimy thoughts just so he could feel more at her level…_filthy_.

He turned around swiftly with his toothbrush in his mouth, "What do you like about her Cur? Do you mind if I call you Cur?"

Curious stumbled over his words, "Uh sure…well yea that's fine." He waited good-naturedly for Joker to finish his brushing, "I like her looks, she's pretty beautiful."

Joker rinsed his mouth out and then turned back towards Cur, "How delightful..." he felt his stomach shake in repulsion.

Why must the human being instantly go for the physical attributes in the search for a compatible mate? It was beyond him really. If you're looking for a lover you should search for the mental, then the physical. Not the other way around, however he admitted that Harleen had a bit of a look to her. It begged for the male eye, fuck even the woman's eye, to take a gander at her slim body.

Curious rubbed his hand across his stomach, "Yea, I just want to touch her. She looks so soft." He noticed his words and rephrased them, "I mean not like that, not you know touch her uncontrollably…"

Joker smiled and walked up to him, "I understand." He managed to catch a glimpse of Cur's watch, "You know breakfast starts in five minutes and I'm awfully hungry."

"Oh yea sorry come on let's go." He held Joker by the elbow and they walked steadily to the dining room, "Hey, you won't…tell her about what I said will you?"

Joker rolled his eyes invisibly, "Well of course not! We're friends aren't we?" He batted his eyes playfully towards Cur.

His eyes travelled in Jokers, "Uh, yea…friends." Cur opened the door for Joker, "Thanks, have a good breakfast."

Joker turned around and began to walk backwards giving Cur a wink before laughing as he closed the door. Friends, Cur was more like an employee. Already he had him twirling around his finger like a worm…a pitiable soulless worthless maggot of a worm. How dare he even find it remotely excusable to talk about Harleen in such a way. No problem however, if Joker didn't find him useful after he snapped his dear little gem of a mind, he'd kill him and get off from it.

He received his food after a few short minutes and began to eat away at the miserable and fowl tasting oatmeal slop they had placed on his tray. He felt bubbles make their way up his esophagus, his stomach didn't have much of an appetite for it either he tacitly comprehended. Joker pushed the tray away but grabbed the apple from his meal and munched fiercely on it while he rested his chin in his hand. Yes he'd much rather have a happy meal with a little hot wheel vehicle to play with after he was finished.

An expression of boredom traveled onto his face. He felt like creating some fun, maybe a little whopping to one of the other inmates with the breakfast tray? Or maybe even stab someone with something, there had to be something around here he could use. He could maybe start a mass fight in here too, that would take his boredom away as he watched a fight all caused by him break loose. Joker smiled, at least the thought of him causing chaos was brightening his spirit up faintly.

Joker's pleasant thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar light touch on his back. It startled his mind but not his body, no one ever touched him. They wouldn't challenge his demeanor on something like a simple touch. Odd enough this touch, light as a feather, stayed put.

"How are you doing this morning Joker?"

But marvelously that voice was quite familiar. He only needed to hear it once to be able to remember a voice as strikingly wonderful as Doctor Harleen Quinzel's, "Harleen, I'm doing just superb this morning surprisingly."

Her eyes glistened like diamonds of the highest quality, "You sure, you're looking a little down. If you'd like, after you're done with breakfast, we could talk about it in a little bit more privacy." She pulled her hand way after a second.

Joker smiled sweetly, "Thank you Harleen, but I'm just fine." He tossed his apple onto the tray and watched her closely as she sat down right next to him.

How could she have the damn guts to sit this close to a psychotic? It troubled Jokers thoughts at how innocently she sat next to him, like it was as if she were sitting only next to an age old friend and they were chatting wildly about the party the night before. And she actually seemed concerned with his well-being, what a doctor.

"Are you sure? I have time, we can go right now if you'd like." She wiped back a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "I'd like to talk to you anyways about some things that are too important to wait until Sunday. I was going to wait until after your group therapy session, but now looks like a good time."

Joker was completely satisfied but persisted to joke around, "Do you think it can wait until during my group session? I really don't want to go, they're a real drag."

Harleen smirked and looked around awkwardly, "Now what type of doctor would I be if I didn't make you go to your therapy…but made everyone else go to theirs?"

"My favorite doctor." He smiled and leaned in closer without her realizing, "Please?" he pouted his lips shortly after and knew he had the sympathy act moving nicely along.

She smiled, "Alright, I'll come get you out of your room at nine forty-five okay?" Harleen patted his back and stood up, "You're quite the charmer Joker."

He couldn't help but laugh and toss his hands up among the noisy room, "Charismatic psychopath, what can I say?"

Joker watched her back away with a smile on her face, she had a dreadfully sexy smile, and he couldn't help but become intrigued by it. He couldn't help but imagine blood softly flowing from it, dark red hues covering her chin in odd arrangements, no he just couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to lick up that blood. To get a tangy, or sour, or sweet taste from her delectable blood, it was almost breath taking, no it _was_ breath taking.

Joker kept his eyes on his now exiting doctor, oh yes she was the romance type for sure. He pushed his tray out farther ahead of him for the clean up crew to take and then he stood up and removed himself absent mindedly from the table.

Her blood had to be slick and slow running, he just knew it. Knew it was that special variety that slowly melts down a face and then drips down onto the floor, splattering as it hits. He imagined those drips gently coming in contact with his lips and he instantly felt his stomach flutter. It wasn't his libido, or anything related to his sex-drive. He just felt a flutter of angel like wings hit his stomach in just the right way that made him feel outstandingly well.

Cur, the guard, appeared out of no where, "You ready to go back to your room?"

"Yes, do you have the time Cur?"

He glanced down at his watch, "About nine o'clock, you have an hour until your group therapy session starts." He cuffed Joker up, "Would you like to go to your room or to the television room?"

Joker felt fantastic. He had Cur who was already beginning to show signs of a merciless defeat to his manipulative actions. He had a doctor who was _incredibly_ out of this world, a woman that was actually kind to him. He was also _actually_ receiving multiple choices of what his daily actions would be like. Arkham had changed, or he was finally getting what he deserved in this disorganized world. It had to be the later. Arkham did not change, it never changed and it never would.

Joker licked the corner of his mouth, "I'll go to my room." He watched Cur nod and start to take him by the elbow, "You know Cur, I've got a secret." Joker smiled as they exited the dining room.

"A secret?" He smiled and looked up at him as they walked down the hall, "What type of secret?"

"Oh it's a secret you ludicrous man, you don't tell secrets right?" Joker grinned like mad and shot him a bold glare.

Cur was disturbed by the look, it frightened him and he turned away rather hurriedly, "Right." Cur wiped his forehead as they reached Jokers room, "What should I call you, everyone here at Arkham doesn't really no what they should address you as." He contemplated looking at Jokers eyes and at last talked himself out of it.

His room was opened up and Joker stepped slowly and casually inside after Cur took off his cuffs. He wished there was a better way to go about the cuffs, the constant on and off bothered him greatly, "You Cur…you can call me Boss…"

Cur closed the door but stood in front of it looking at Joker with disease, "Boss?" he wasn't sure what to make of it.

Joker rubbed his wrists, "Yes, Boss. Now on you go, shoo." He let out a laugh, "Busy busy!"

"Alright…Boss, I'll come and get you for lunch." He turned his head away from Joker, "They set me permanently as your ritual and meal officer."

Joker pushed his face against the door, "Really?" he smiled broad and a dim personality sparkled around him. His manner had been especially low and sin filled.

Cur nodded, "Yea, so I guess until next time!" he tried to smile but his nerves got the better of him. He turned to leave but twisted back around before leaving the area in front of Jokers room, "Boss." And then half saluted to Joker before departing.

Joker hit his head scarcely against the glass in absolute victory. Curiosity had been so uncomplicated to break, and it only took him what about two hours? If that! He saluted him even, absolutely grand! The minds that surrounded him were unbearably weak, and it was foolish of them to even think that they could declare war against his broadened intellect. Truly foolish _indeed_.

However Harleen on the other hand, Harleen actually seemed to have some powerful mental power. She apparently knew how to talk to Joker, knew how to select the right words so she didn't upset him, knew how to make him pleased. That made Joker laugh, all she had to do was sit and smile pretty for the camera and he was in unreserved harmony.

He wondered what she wanted to talk to him about, and it was very strange of her to come into the dining room and make such a casual remark like that to him. Well, she was a very odd doctor so he didn't find it too alarming, but just the same he let his mind work at peace, pondering what her minuscule yet prevailing and divine voice that was so evident wanted to chatter about.

She had mentioned it was important, but Joker didn't believe that. No, she was just too fascinated by him, and she just wanted to learn more about who The Joker was. He loved that, he wanted her to be inquisitive with him, he wanted her to _want_ to know more about him. Harleen was very inquiring even she hid it so well from others, it didn't and wouldn't get pass him. He knew how her mind worked. Get in, be kind, get the goods, and your out. Simple, quick, and beyond words rude, but Joker knew just how to manipulate her into better terms.

He had declared that they could be called friends or at least acquaintances at this point. So now Joker decided that he would begin the process of breaking her mind in the time to come. It would be a challenge to work out the kinks, but ultimately, it will be purely fun.

_Harleen Quinzel, prepare yourself Joker likes to play games…and he doesn't let up for pretty little doctors._

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	5. Funny Secret I Have

Funny Secret I Have #5

Nine thirty nine, here comes the glorious doctor who so exceedingly would like to 'heal' The Joker. Her heels hammering firmly against the floor of the hall way, her fucking sex symbol hips swaying teasingly from side to side as if she owned the world, her damn fixed doctor uniform carefully sprinkled about her like it was a Halloween outfit for whores, and that tie…something about that tie wrapped just so nicely around her neck. The perfect, ideal, one of a kind, and overall pleasantly smooth neck that Joker had dreamed about strangling the night before, was nearing him. Approaching him with no intention of stopping, his adrenaline pumped with anticipation, his mind went full speed at the images of her cut up body strewn so nicely about, and that blood, like molasses, pouring out of her…mocking him with the ever so time consuming drip to his lips…_fuck_.

His forehead was plastered to the door. His shadow filled eyes closed tightly shut as he imagined the body of Harleen Quinzel lying cleanly on his cot. Her body a canvas that he was to work with, and she was commissioning it, she was _willing_ to give her body to him, to work with, to manipulate, and to create the ultimate joke with. A heavy breath escaped from him, she was more than just a mind he had finally realized.

And she had the fucking ass mind to taunt him further from his eagerness by nearing him in a gracefully unhurried manner. He swore all he had to do was flick the tip of his cock and he would release.

The pleasurable beat of her walking had ceased and so Joker opened his eyes, an aura of complete beauty was thrown at him with no objective of mercy. She stood before the door with her hands placed behind her back, her legs smooth, her eyes bright, and that smile even sexier than just a few moments ago. He let a smile grow on his face, she was five minutes early.

"You alright?" She had noticed the concentration on his face before he had realized that she had shown up.

He twirled his tongue around in his mouth, "Quite alright, now that you've come to save me from my cage."

"Do you really find your room to be more like a cage?" Her eyes never looked away from his as she slid the access card through the meter, "I don't want you to feel like it's a cage." She withdrew a pair of hand cuffs and walked into the room with Joker.

"Well what do you want me to take it as? I'm cooped up in here until someone comes to get me for a session." He pushed his hands out for her to cuff, "If someone even finds the time to come and take me out of this retched hole…"

Harleen placed her hand onto his lower back as they walked to her office, she couldn't help but realize the warmth he carried, "What do you mean, finds the time?"

He shrugged and looked down at her with a smile, "I'm only saying that sometimes guards don't want to come get me out. I end up staying in there during my session." A light laugh mustered out of him, "But really I don't mind if I get to miss a despair meeting."

She let her brows combine into one, "I'm sorry, that's not right of them to treat you that way." Harleen allowed for her face to relax and she looked up at her patient, "What about meal times? Do they let you out at meal times?"

"Most of the time yes..." He let his answer stop there.

"Most of the time? This is an outrage!" She quickened her pace and Joker sped up as well, silently laughing in his mind at her temper, "How degrading it is for them to do that to you!"

Joker felt her apply a bit more pressure to his back with her hand. He couldn't get enough of her feel on his body, it was only a hand, a small fragile hand, and yet it brought so much pleasure to his being…what would her whole body be like? When her blood would drip, he rationalized, he would most likely reach nirvana, he just had to with her delightful body and blood, he would certainly reach it, he would.

"Harleen really it's not that big of a treaty, I'm used to it after all…"

"Used to it? Used to it?" She shook her head in anger, "You should have never even experienced a loss of _one_ meal…how many do you think you've missed?"

How grand! How marvelous! "Oh maybe a couple dozen give or take a few."

"What?!" She stopped in front of her office and opened the door, "As your new doctor, I will personally see to it that you do not miss another meal or activity. Unless there is a reason for it, like what we're doing right now." Harleen slammed the door shut, complete fury overtaking her petite size, "I'm so sorry Joker."

He watched her take a seat in her chair, and so he copied her actions by sitting in his own, "It's so nice to have a doctor that is as caring as you are." He ran his knuckles underneath his nose and then set his hands in his lap, "Thanks Harleen."

She smoothed back her loose bangs, "You shouldn't have to thank me for being a kind doctor, it should just be a requirement that you have one."

"So what is this mysterious discussion you so wanted to have with me Harleen?"

Joker's folder had been opened to a page that was heavily filled with pictures. She ran her fingers over them and Joker couldn't help but notice that she became saddened when she touched them. She was actually sad for _him_, "Your pictures that you drew in your room? I noticed something about them."

He cleared his throat, "Do you mind if I bring my chair closer to your desk?"

"Please do." She hurried her statement and Joker felt proud about it. She hadn't even thought twice about it…she felt…_comfortable?_

He stood up and tugged at the chair, dragging it closer to her oak desk before seating himself in it once again, "You've noticed something about my drawings?"

She adjusted her glasses and glanced up at Joker, "Yes…" She grabbed the large number of photos and then pushed away his file leaving a clear space on the desk to work with. Harleen excitedly placed the photos into four columns and six rows and then sat back down in her seat gently placing her folded hands underneath her chin, "Do you notice anything strange about these?"

Joker examined them, gleefully smiling at all the drawings of his killings. After a time of his inspection of the pictures he lowered his brows as he too noticed something odd about them.

Harleen noticed that he was seeing what she saw, "What do you make of that?"

Every picture on the table was the same in one aspect, their eyes were smudges of black. Besides Batman's who had x's.

Joker kept quiet and leaned back in his chair. She was the only one who had noticed his subtle clue…how fucking fantastic this little thing before him was. She had a brilliant mind…

"Do you know why you did that? Made all of their eyes black smudges besides Batman's?" She waited for a response but Joker had none for the time being.

He sat quietly as a small and faint grin appeared on his face. He was in awe of how wonderful Harleen Quinzel really was. He felt himself become completely aroused by her. Simply put he could no longer hide his feelings for her to himself, she had a mind that was worthy enough for the sacredness of his. She was the only one in this insane asylum that had the guts to even talk to him like he was a _normal being_. His finger tips trembled at the thought of her complying with his every wish, every command…he had never wanted to make true love with someone before. He had no reason for his sexual tendencies prior to her warm little presence, he just did it to do it. With Harleen Quinzel…_Harley Quinn…_there was reason.

"Harley I did that because Batman has a soul." He paused and took in the sight of her sitting with utmost care for him, "I smudged the other victim's eyes because they aren't worthy to have _souls_…"

"Do you think Batman is the only person who has a legitimate soul?"

He sniffled and proceeded with his answer, "No…no not anymore."

"Not anymore?"

"I used to think that he and I were the only ones worthy enough for souls." He reached out and picked up the picture with Batman, "But then I met someone."

Harleen looked at him thoughtfully and waited for him to bring his eyes back to her, "Who?"

"Just a funny secret I have is all." He chuckled, "But I'll let you know that I met her here at Arkham just yesterday."

"Her?" She gave him a suave smile, "Do we like this girl?"

"One could come to the possible conclusion that we do." He smiled at the irony of it all.

She clapped her hands together one time in excitement, "Oh Joker! Good!"

He scrunched his nose but smiled, "Why good?" Joker crossed one leg over the other seeming very interested in what she had to say.

"Well," she tossed an arm up in the air to further illustrate her point, "I think it's very healthy for someone of your individual nature to be exhibiting attraction to someone." She stopped herself and looked at Joker in question, "This attraction isn't harmful to her I hope…"

He laughed as he pressed his hands against his stomach, "No Harley, this attraction is simply out of emotional, mental, and maybe even physical attraction."

"No thoughts of hurting her?" She asked him and then pressed her lips together in hopes of a positive response.

Joker pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek while he pondered the best way to answer her question, "I'm not going to lie to you, I have thought about _hurting_ her. But I could never _kill_ her."

She grabbed a pencil and touched it thoughtfully to her lips, "Why could you never kill her?"

"I think she's too much of an asset."

"Why an asset? What about her makes you think she could be of value to you?"

He pushed the corner of his mouth up, "I haven't really found that out yet to be honest. But when you're me, Harley, and you find somebody that has the mental capacity to keep up with you, you figure they can be a great contribution to the success of something superior in life."

She let a small grin creep onto her face. Joker smiled as well knowing she understood exactly what he meant, "That makes sense." She gave him a quick nod, "But why hurt her then? Why do you have thoughts of abusing someone that you have feelings for?"

Feelings…

"That Harley is the billion dollar question!" He sat back in his chair and advertised his petrifying murky and portentous set of teeth, "That's one of the reasons why I'm here right?"

Harleen smiled and sighed, "Yes, mind sharing her name with me?"

"I think I'll keep that to me for the time being Harley, do you mind if I call you Harley?"

She pulled her glasses off and then started to pile the pictures back into the folder, "No, I don't mind that you call me that. All of my friends do."

"You consider me a friend?" That had actually sent a little buzz through his veins, he hadn't expected her to outright say that he was a friend of hers.

"Sure! I want to be friends with all of my patients…"

He ran his hands through his hair to the back of his head and then held them there for a moment, "You are a very different doctor."

"Like I said, I think all doctors should be friendly and outgoing with their patients. Being a friend is part of the pact." She let a pause enter and then she spoke up, "How was breakfast?"

What an odd question. How could she be so interested to how he was?

"I'd much rather get my hands on a good ol' Happy Meal…" He emphasized with his hands.

Harley laughed, "I get it, because you're The Joker, _happy_ meal…"

He just stared at her as she attentively cleaned her glasses and shared in on the laughter. A dimple lightheartedly residing in her left cheek when she gave one of those smiles out, it was so fucking desirable. He wanted to run his thumb across it to see how deep a crevice it was, how deep her mind was. Joker watched her eyes start to water, why they were watering he had no damn clue, but the way they just so happened to glisten when the light hit them just right was beyond a true word he could have dug in his gut to find.

He brought his eyes to her neck which so gracefully turned into her shoulders and they were narrow and clean. He imagined himself running his hands over them while he watched her cry out blood from the pain he would inflict upon her. Slowly moving like a thick syrup across her cheeks…_sweet and innocent_.

"Sorry to say this Joker, but you have to go back to your room." She wiped away at her eyes.

He flung his hand up in the air, "Oh please! You got me out of that dreadful conversational piece I would have had to endure."

She stood up and smiled so sweetly to him, "Well, I'm glad I made your day then. Remember it's Monday, you have drawing. You'll look forward to that I'm sure."

He stood up as well and let Harley take him by the elbow as she walked him out of her office, "How could I forget something that I enjoy so much?"

The two of them reached his room and she placed him inside carefully and tenderly. She had a touch of sadness present on her ultimate features, "You know, the girl that you like…she's pretty lucky."

He gave a striking look, "Lucky?"

She crossed her arms and stood close to the door, "Just because you may be a psychopath, doesn't mean that you don't have emotional balance. I think that you do, you just need some help getting it straightened out." Harley let out a smile, "I know you're a great person underneath that exterior you have."

Joker walked over to the door and pressed his palm against it, bending down just a little to get closer to her height, "You really think so?"

Harley nodded and then brought her hand up to his patting it from the outside, "Yes I do." She kept it there for a few seconds, keeping her view right into his eyes, and then pulled away and left him, he stood in the same position watching her leave until she was out of his sight.

_Yes, what a funny little secret I have…_

* * *

**_Please leave a reveiw, hope you are enjoying, next chapter we have Jokers first session...should be a barrel of laughs I think!_**


	6. Beyond True Words

Beyond True Words #6

How splendid it was to have realized that she was already emotionally attracted to him. How fantastic it was, that he was able to get her, yes a doctor here at Arkham Asylum, to become infatuated with his mind. It was rather simple, not complex in the least. He spoke the truth after all, he was starting to like Harley, quite a bit he might add. The way her body moved when she walked, the way she spoke all sophisticated and proper and yet she had a little hint of playfulness behind it, and the way she touched him ever so kindly on the back and elbow were all just to subtle of hints to assure him that she was the one.

Her hips would sway just slightly, her arms bent oh so carefully at the elbows, and then she would glance around the room sincerely caring about the individuals located within it. Her legs playing with his eyes as they brushed against one another when she walked, bantering him, begging him to feel up those legs and to those sexual pleasure points. How pathetic.

She would speak with a bright voice, booming across the room so she was sure she could be heard. She was a small little thing, but that was perfect, better to control her with. And that damn voice that bellowed so nicely out, mocking him in a professional manner with a hint of play hidden between her letters. How weak.

Then Harley would add some cream to the dessert by touching him. Touching him lightly on the small of his back letting her presence be known with a delicate finger. She would apply a bit of pressure when her emotions got worked up, letting her superior understand all that she was feeling, what a good little girl. She knew exactly what to do already. How breathtaking.

Yes she would combine her movement, her voice, and her touch to make him shiver so wonderfully in the gut and knees. She would placidly enter a room and yet underneath that secure and calming appearance was a girl who just wanted to come out and play, and he would play if she wanted him to join in, why not? She seemed like such fucking fun!

And she was turning out to be more than fun…

Joker worked diligently on his drawing, creating arches and circles and indents and shading in all the appropriate areas of the person he was drawing. His eyes glazed over as he pushed the pencil forcefully down across the paper to create a darker line to emphasize the area more. Oh it was a masterpiece of anyone's liking…more so his than others however.

He kept unusually quiet as he worked, every now and again coughing or clearing his throat. He would stick his soft and fleshy tongue out of the corner of his mouth, closing his eyes tightly to imagine what his victim would look like, what _she_ would look like.

Harley, she would be stunning that was known without a doubt. And so he took extra care in his drawing of her, making sure that every proportion was accurate to the best of his knowledge. He started off with the basic outline of her body in a kneeling position. It had been the first form that jumped into his inferno and so he decided to depart with it. He detailed her nude torso adding the navel and smooth shades of black to indicate depth. She had lively curves but not overly dramatic, he took note of that, he took note of everything on unassuming Harley's body.

Joker shivered when he felt a set of slight finger tips touch his back unexpectedly. He smiled knowing all to well that Harley came to check up on him. He continued with his work, not looking up from his private table that he sat at alone. That always made him laugh, other patients were afraid of his clown like nature…he may want to juggle something after all.

Harley sat down next to the left of him on the bench seat, "Hey, did you have a good lunch?"

"Oh quite delicious if you're into slop." He chuckled quietly and turned the page more at an angle to better his ease of drawing, for the pencil was chained down to the desk. He sometimes had a tendency to well…stab at any given moment.

"Sorry you didn't have a desirable meal." She scooted herself closer and examined his drawing, "You really are good at drawing."

He looked up and smiled thoughtfully and then went back to creating his work of genius.

"Who are you drawing?"

Joker smiled and tilted his head to the right looking out the corner of his eyes at her, "A girl in my dream."

She watched him continue his drawing, putting more and more details into just the torso for the time being, "Could this be 'mystery' girl?"

"It very well could be, but then again it was a dream…" He rubbed his finger against an area on the paper which allowed the pencil marks to blend more together.

Harley watched in awe at how strikingly real it looked, "Did you ever take lessons when you younger? Or did it just come naturally to you?"

"Naturally…"

The room was lively, as patients talked to one another and conversed with the instructor. But as for Joker and Harley, they both seemed to be in a different period of time, talking to one another as if they were the only two people alive.

He covered his mouth and gave a short cough, "No one ever appreciates my work though." He added it slyly into the conversation.

"Why? It's so beautiful." She turned her body towards him a little more waiting for his response with full eagerness taking effect on her.

He turned slowly himself, his eyes glazed from his concentration, "They don't like me much here, but the fact that they don't appreciate my work doesn't bother me too much." He laughed and turned back to his drawing finishing a few final touches on the torso and now moving to the frontal view of the bent knees.

"Just because they don't like you doesn't mean that your work should go unappreciated." She looked sincerely at Joker, "I mean look at this…" She pointed to his work and he stopped and looked it over, "You've only done the stomach and it looks so real."

Damn she was just so kind.

"Although a positive review is quite rewarding Harley," He set down his pencil and put all of his attention on her eyes, "I don't need it to be satisfied with my ability to draw. As long as I'm happy with it, then what do the thoughts of others matter?"

He watched her eyes travel away from his in thought. What a positively marvelous person, she didn't quite get it in relation to why he did things, but she was thinking, and that was optimistically grand. She would come to understand exactly what he meant by that straightforward yet intricate declaration in all due time, she was smart, and she would get it in time.

Harley brought her eyes back to his, "I see." And then she nodded approvingly, "That's a great way to look at things."

Joker pushed his tongue against the back of his teeth, "Yes it is." He looked back down at his drawing, "Yes it is…"

"Draw some more, it's really fascinating to see you at work." She adjusted her sitting and straightened her back fervently waiting for the show to continue.

He grabbed the pencil and glanced back up at her once more smiling before continuing with the drawing of Harley, his 'mystery' girl, "This drawing for some reason, makes me feel different."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not really sure to tell you the truth."

She watched as he worked on the legs that folded underneath the woman in the picture, "Can you describe the feeling?"

His pencil stopped, "An…_optimistic_ feel…"

"Optimistic?"

He continued once again this time talking while he drew, "For some reason, it just tends to make me feel hopeful and positive about future outcomes."

Harley propped her elbow up on the table and gave the drawing another look over, "Any special parts that give you that feeling?"

"Yes."

She smiled, "Care to tell?"

He licked his lip and looked over at his doctor, "I haven't drawn it yet." Joker let his eyes travel to her smile but then brought his view back up to her eyes, "But her smile, it's so incredibly desirable the way I dream it." He closed his eyes imagining her smile touching his, the molasses like blood seeping into his mouth, "It's so superbly ideal and balanced. No imperfection what so ever located within a mile of that extraordinary smile Harley." He opened his eyes and saw the very same smile he was talking about.

"You must have very detailed dreams." She looked down at the drawing and shook her head in amazement, "It looks so authentic…"

"Perhaps I do, and perhaps it is…" He started to draw again smiling to himself.

She laughed, "I wish I understood your mind explicably Joker." Harley couldn't take her eyes away from his drawing, "You know, it looks almost familiar in a way."

Joker shaded in the crevice between the legs, "Is it now?"

"Yes, but I can't quite place it to the person." She cocked her head to the side.

He smiled invisibly, that was a good thing that it was familiar to her. It meant that he was a doing a good job, a stunningly good job. He couldn't wait for her to see it when he was finished, but he promised himself not to reveal until it was completely done, no…even if it was completely luscious to tell her that it was in fact her that he was drawing he would keep it to himself and let her realize on her own. She was smart, she would figure it out.

"Perhaps when I'm finished, you'll be able to put a name to this girl I'm drawing." He turned and smiled at her.

She studied his smile for a moment, "I don't see why people are so terrified of your smile."

"You aren't scared of my smile?" He took it away and gave her a genuine look of wanting to know more. It didn't bother him that she wasn't scared of his smile, but he did want to know why.

She shook her head, "No."

Joker narrowed his eyes at her, maybe Harley deserved a little more credit, "Would you care to further explain yourself?"

Harley grinned, "I just don't see what could be so terrifying about a smile." She shrugged and pulled off her glasses setting them on the table, "Just because it seems wider and is a bright red hue…"

"Most people associate it with death, why not you?" his head tilted to the side.

Her eyes travelled away from the conversation and back onto the drawing, "I don't know truthfully. I'm trying to figure that out."

He laughed softly and started to draw the other side of the bent knees, "Seems my doctor has her own problems to work out."

"Who doesn't have problems?" She smiled and let herself indulge in the fantasy of his drawing, "Does it bother you that I'm not…fearful of your smile?"

"No not at all."

"Alright everyone, session's over clean up your stuff before you go, you all know the drill." The instructor clapped his hands acting as if he was of superior authority, he was merely an ant on the bottom of Jokers shoe.

Harley stood up from the table, "Maybe I'll see you on Wednesday during drawing again okay?"

"I look forward to that, it's nice to have someone like you appreciate my work. If it were anyone else Harley, I wouldn't have cared what they had to say." He searched for the right words to get her to feel for him, "Even if you hadn't appreciated it, I would want to hear what your critique was."

Harley smiled, "I love it, and I can't wait to see the finished product, and who am I to degrade anyone's work? If it makes them happy, then who am I to have a word in it?"

"Quite true Harley." He smiled indisputably at her.

She began to walk backwards with her arms folded across her chest towards the exit, "It makes you happy right?"

"Oh…" He held his hand over his heart and closed his eyes, "_Beyond true words_…" Joker watched her exit. She was so ripe.


	7. Oops

Oops #7

Beyond true words indeed. He himself had the slightest idea on what word could be more suitable to describe the happiness that Harley Quinn gave so graciously to him. Sure he could just add a word before happy like 'incredibly' happy, or simply just say 'more than' happy, but was their just one word that could accurately depict _his_ happiness with _her_? He didn't think so, not at all. Their may be a word that is greater than happiness in the means of a definition, but it's just a word, and he most certainly believed that it would be completely inadequate just the same, for his 'mystery' girl, pleased him beyond true words.

How could this simple being please him anyway? The fact that she was highly developed in the stages of beauty? The fact that these stages of beauty were not only found in one scarce aspect of her? That seemed right, her beauty compelled him, in the art of not only her glorious physical self, but also that of her seductive mind and her righteous soul.

She had a unique way of inspiring wonder and joy to his eyes, and to him that was quite exceptional. Most of the time, in order to accomplish that amazing feat, you would have to have blood oozing and toiling out of you in a mouth-watering pattern of arrays and hues. Not Harley, all she had to do was sit and his eyes would salivate as he imagined touching her. Running his finger down across her cheek to the bottom of her chin, lifting it up and eating away at her tantalizing lips. If he was lucky, she would bleed from the bites he would inflict upon those scrumptious fleshy folds, and their lips would slide across each other's in a delightful behavior.

His eyes shot open as he marveled away from his reverie and his content smile now vanished into a cold pondering frown.

Could it…could it possibly be that he, The Joker, be _love-struck_?

He bit his bottom lip and tapered his eyes as a bite size snort escaped from his nose. His shoulders convulsed from the laughter within his chest aching to be unleashed from its master. He granted the wish slowly, the mirth gaining more and more access to the ability of growth. The laughter started out as a throaty giggle, but now it filled his room substantially as he grabbed onto his stomach from the decisive hilarity of the thought. He rolled out of his cot and hit the ground with his back, kicking his legs in the air with one hand on his abdomen and one on his forehead as the room began to become hot from the never ending joy he brought upon himself. A climaxing roar of his trademark laugh echoed vociferously down the hall way, filling his ears cheerfully as he stomped his feet against the floor.

But then he jumped up onto his feet with tremendous ease and tossed his hand up to his chin holding it in a contemplative way, his laughing fit completely gone as if it never happened.

Love-struck by the curvy little cutie Harley Quinn? Struck in the heart by a wondrous girl? His 'mystery' girl?

He very well could be, in fact he now knew he _was_ infatuated with her trouble-free and compound mind body and soul.

Damn he was good, he was the best there was. He could even manipulate his own damn mind without him knowing. He gave a short snicker as he sat down on his cot tapping his foot kindly against the hard ground. He went for three implausible days without coming to the conclusion that he was infatuated with Harley, he wanted to applaud himself, give himself a pat on the back for his one of a kind manipulation scheme, so he did.

He laughed quietly and gave himself two pats for the downright mad firestorm that occurred in his head. What a silly man he was, manipulating his own mind, oops…

But then he thought about that beautiful doctor of his, he was completely fine with the fact that he had cupid's arrow stuck in him somewhere. To be honest he didn't want to pull it out either, he really did like the fact that he was actually showing some attraction to her, at least in his thoughts he was. He knew it would come in handy, this infatuation with the 'doctor', and he knew once he was done with her, he could easily un-infatuate himself. Simple. This meager feeling he was having was only to help snap Harley's mind.

All in all, he wouldn't pursue Harley in that way. He would let things occur in a more natural way in regards to his feelings for her, but her feelings for him? Oh he would help it come out, but it would be entirely real, entirely genuine from her…

He already had become friends with her, and the emotional attraction step was a complete success. Next on the hidden list in his mind was to achieve physical attraction. Harley had already started that, she was quite eager to move quickly across the list, she had plainly stated that she wasn't afraid of his smile…that was a positive motive he evidently thought.

However physical attraction wasn't truly necessary, it would only make things easier. Easier wasn't much fun, and he did so much enjoy a challenge. Maybe he would just let that naturally occur as well.

So if he was to leave physical attraction up to a 'normal' occurrence that led him to the step of…_romance_. He felt his stomach give a quick cramp, but he would deal with the romance thing, he could work with it.

It wasn't that romance was such a bad thing, it was that his idea of romance was much more different than others. A nice poem with an attached flower was the equivalent to a poem with blood soaked into the paper, his idea just wasn't the same as others.

Harley liked to listen to his words though, he noticed that immensely. She concentrated on him like he was the world, great little thing she was. He would go about it that way, through his words. He couldn't very well do it any other way, now that he thought about it…or could he?

"Hands out in front of you." One of the heftier guards had entered his room blindly.

Joker stood up now noticing the man and stuck his hands out in front of him to receive a tight pair of cuffs to his wrists.

"I'll take him to his session, and you can take off those cuffs."

Joker smiled and peered around the guard at that feather like glow that presented itself around her flowing smile.

The guard looked behind him and shrugged, "One less thing for me to do." He undid the cuffs sliding them back into his pocket and walked away carelessly.

Harley walked in, "Hey!"

"In a pleasant mood today Harley?" He walked out of his room following Harley's harmonious voice, "You seem a bit chipper."

She smiled, "You're a fun patient, I look forward to working with you."

The two of them walked down the hall towards the drawing session room, "Nice to know somebody thinks I'm fun."

"If you didn't scare them to death maybe they would." Harley gave a short laugh and then reached out to open the door but Joker grabbed it before her and motioned her in with his arm.

"If they weren't so stiff maybe they wouldn't die."

He took his seat and waited for his drawing to make its way back to him and Harley sat willingly next to his side, "How long do you think it will take for you to finish the drawing?"

"Oh, depends really." He was given his drawing and he smiled at the absoluteness of it, "Some days I just may not feel all too keen on drawing, sometimes I loose my inspiration. That or I just need a break."

"What's your inspiration?" She watched as he darted away at the drawing like he was born to do it, "What stimulates you into creating things?"

"It varies."

Harley looked up at his profile face, it was so strenuously attached to the work and he had only just started, "What about this piece?"

He gave a guttural brief laugh, "I don't know, it hasn't left me yet. I can only tell what my inspiration is when it decides to leave and I can no longer work." Joker licked his top lip, "I may think it's one thing at one moment, but then if that inspiration leaves and I'm still stimulated, well then obviously it's something different."

"Well, what do you _think_ it is for this drawing?"

"You doctors and your silly never ending questions, I'm not quite sure yet."

She laughed, "It's my job to ask questions and dig into that brain you have."

He chuckled but said nothing. It was her job to dig into his mind and figure out who he was, oh poor little Harley had no idea. She hadn't even wiped the sweat from his brow yet…

"Oh," her body straightened, "how was your drama session yesterday?"

Joker pushed his head back and smiled, "Let's just say I'd much rather have a conversational woe party over that confined drama hell hole any day." He brought his face down and turned to Harley, "But that's just me."

She frowned, "I'm sorry, what didn't you like about it?"

The corner of his mouth trembled, he didn't like how her smile went away, not at all, "I like to use the world as my stage, not a ten by ten dance floor."

"I'll see what I can do to get you put into a different session."

Joker set down his pencil and swung one leg out from under the table so that now he was facing Harley with one leg on each side of the bench. He stared at her with a grin on his face, and his hands were placed in front of him on the seat.

Her eyes shot to the side and then back at him, "What's the matter?"

Joker opened his left hand up and pushed it out towards her watching her eyes look frantically at his palm.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"Give me your hand, don't be afraid…" His grin widened and grew sinister as he noticed her hand leisurely reach out to his. Their palms met and Joker carefully placed his right hand on top of hers, enclosing her softness within his furious fingers. He shook her hand lightly, "Are you afraid?"

"No."

He smiled showing a slight amount of his maddening teeth, "You should never frown Harley."

"It's okay to frown…" She spoke in a whisper looking over at the other people in the room repeatedly.

Joker shook his head, "It's never okay to frown."

Her lips quivered, "Why?"

"Because you never know who may be falling for your smile." He turned his head to the clueless audience in front of them. None of them noticing the little act he was pulling off. He looked back at her through the corner of his eyes, "Who knows, maybe even someone in this very room is falling for it." He let go of her hand and she pulled it back casually.

Joker took a deep breath and brought his leg back to its original spot. He gave another quick laugh and began to draw.

Harley hesitantly moved closer to him, "Why are you laughing?" she presented her question calmly and appropriately to him.

"Well," He smiled drawing the arms in now, "if we don't laugh, we'll simply go insane."

Harley didn't say anything for a few seconds but then she laughed, "So what's your excuse?"

"You're lucky I'm a guy who knows how to take a joke Harley." He turned his head at her and licked his lips when he saw how lovely her smile was.

"I knew that you could, that's why I said it."

He stared back down at his drawing but pushed it away as he felt his jaw wobble. He kept his body straight and looked at Harley as he supported his head up with his hand.

She noticed that he had pushed the drawing away from him, "Did you lose your inspiration?"

"Oh no…" He replied quickly to her.

"Then why did you stop?"

He let his eyes move higher in their sockets and permitted his brows to elevate, "I'm taking a break."

"Oh okay." She let out a laugh and searched for something to ask, "What type of music do you listen to?"

"What don't I listen to…"

She shrugged, "What's your favorite genre?"

Joker put the side of his head onto the table looking up at Harley. How she could find him so harmless, and yet still respect him as her superior, for some reason it made his blood run fast throughout his body, "You'll laugh."

She shook her head, "And that bothers you?"

"No." His eyes glistened up at her, he was a natural at this romantic crap. All the lost deals he could have won if he would have known that romanticism was a great way to get to people. He was a charmer but not in this way, it was very invigorating, "Instrumental, with a lot of different beats, not necessarily classical but you know...it _energizes_ me into relaxation."

"Would you like to listen to some during our personal sessions?"

He gave her a smile, "Yes very much so." His eyes looked at her neck and then back to her eyes, "Too bad I'll have to wait until Sunday though, it's such an awful distance between Wednesday and Sunday. The blasted fools who put those two days so far apart."

"What if we meet tomorrow for a personal session?" She looked sincerely down at him.

"Sounds perfect." He let his eyes close as he imagined sitting blissfully in a comfy chair listening to music, Harley right across from him, her whole top of the line mind all to him, all of her attention on him, "Absolutely perfect."


	8. True Colors

True Colors #8

How impressive that hand had felt in his grasp. Her soft skin, her warmth, her striking and small delicate being in his fiery mitts, it was extraordinary. It had been a phenomenal colliding barrier of unstable and unstoppable that so gracefully came in contact with one another to create a short but meaningful relationship that made him bleed with sanguine feelings. He dreamed about the day he would crack her brittle mind, dream of it exploding off into the deep end where no one would dare try to save her. He would push her, shove her into that unending abyss, and no would be able to come within a mere fraction of poor little Harleen Quinzel. The devil himself would be waiting to envelope them, waiting oh so patiently with claws drawn and frightful teeth undressed, laughing while he drove them to insanity as well, just for the hell of it, just to see them squirm, just to mock them because cutie Harley _wouldn't_ _want_ to be saved.

How _fucking_ mouth-watering would that be?

She would want…oh yes…want to be his. Harley would beg, request, beseech to do anything for him. He knew it, yes he was purely confident about his sweet Harley. He was rather buoyant about how loyal his sugary petite girl would be, it would just take a little time.

And in the mean time, he would tap his feet together and smile from the great ecstasy he was feeling in Arkham for the very first time.

The mocking downhearted walls that enclosed him from the outside had always tried to bring him down, they would always laugh at him, try to make him feel pity for his existence, but he would laugh right back, shine a superb and perfect smile right back at those towering dark walls because he had a secret. Since well, why in all that is funny would he want to feel disappointment for himself, when right now, under every ones snotty stuck up noses, he was playing a very comical game with one of their staff members?

One of the smartest staff members, brilliant, gorgeous, righteous, seductive!

Damn her…

So how could he feel disappointment from that? It was what he did…what he _does_! He fed off of it after all…

"Morning Boss!" Cur swiped his access card through the meter, "Ready for rituals?"

"Why of course, it's such a beautiful and bright day!" He gave a chuckle and rubbed his hands together in a disturbing technique and stepped towards Cur with one enormous bound.

Cur took a stride back and smiled, "You're in an awfully good mood today." He lifted his hand to his head and rubbed at his temple as the two began walking towards the showering room, "So, has…you know Harleen, talked about me?" He looked up at Joker and he noticed a small stubbly grin appear on his face, he looked back down at the ground, "I've been trying to talk to her lately, trying to initiate conversation like you said to do."

What a stupid little fool. Harley mentioned that a sentinel kept aggravating her. Joker couldn't help but know that he would ultimately fail when trying to woo the gorgeous doctor, what with his hair always muddled, and his shirt always un-tucked, he was a mess for heavens-sake! One look at Cur and she'd probably feel bile make its way up her delightfully created esophagus.

Not like him, no sir! Shirt always tucked, smile forever present and accounted for, hair slicked back with no strands out of place, and he would make sure to add that singular spark in the angle of his eye to make her giggle oh so nicely.

What a giggle she had too! It made him want to just jump at her throat and bite away at it, desperately trying to get to her voice box so it can be properly honored and adorned with gifts in the tallest cathedral known to man. Then again, Harley was quite the specimen to hold such a voice. He pouted just a slight, he really had wanted to chew on her throat to see it…oh well, she was a worthy vessel.

Joker looked down at Cur and gave him a polished look, "Cur…_she can't stop talking about you_…" He looked forward chin up and smiled, "You must be the real charmer hmm?" His sight travelled to the crook of his eyes waiting for Cur's response.

His pace slowed down, astonished that Harleen had actually been talking about him, "What? You mean she really has been talking about me?" Cur ran his fingers through his hair and smiled a dull boyish grin, "What did she say?"

"What did she say?" He licked the corner of his lip as they entered the showering room, "You mean what _didn't_ she say?" Joker stepped into the shower and closed the curtain. He removed his clothing and tossed it over towards the dazzled Cur, "Honestly Cur, she's head over heels about you! I can't even get a word in…"

"Sorry about that." He sat down on his usual bench, folding his hands together with that dumb grin still plastered to his chubby face, "I don't mean to take away from your sessions."

Joker smiled. How gullible this cretin was, he actually believed that Harley, his unbelievable Harley was talking about him. He held his stomach laughing, and danced around quietly in the shower.

"Boss?" Cur stood up halfway, a slight amount of concern showing in his tone.

Joker stopped his laughing after realizing he was doing it a bit too loudly, "I'm fine Cur, just…thinking about things…" He held back his chuckles and grabbed the grotesque smelling shampoo.

"I was wondering Boss…" Cur scratched his head trying to rationalize the best way to ask, "I was wondering if you could do something for me."

He wrinkled his nose as he sniffed the sticky substance in his hand, "What would this _something_ be?" Joker tentatively applied the material to his hair, hoping it wouldn't damage the exquisiteness of it.

"Well, I'm not too good with words and I noticed you have a pretty big vocab list in your pocket when you want to use it." Cur's leg began to shake.

Joker gagged silently from the shampoo, he swore the smell was getting worse as the days went by, "What are you getting at?"

Cur stood up and wiped furiously at his chest, "I mean, you're pretty smart, I've noticed."

Joker rolled his eyes. It was truthfully thoughtful of Cur to appreciate his higher authority by giving him kind words but really…get to the damn point, "Really Cur what's on your so-called mind?"

"I was wondering if you could write a note to Dr. Quinzel for me…" Cur massaged his eye sockets waiting in agony for Jokers response.

"Hmm…" Joker grabbed his chin and pressed his back against the wall, "I don't think that's very appropriate for me to do, especially considering…our atmosphere." He rubbed his finger against his teeth and listened to the small squeaking noise it produced.

"What does the atmosphere have anything to do with this?" Cur asked rather dumbfounded.

Jokers eyes narrowed and he repeated Curs question quietly to himself, "_What does the atmosphere have anything to do with this_?...Oh Cur really now! Atmosphere is another word for environment, the interesting mood characteristic of a place. _You dumb shit_…" He shook his head and applied the conditioner now, it smelled putrid.

Cur looked at the ground registering the new information he had just been given, when he was finished his head shot up toward the shower, "You see!" his arms flew out to his side, "I need your help Boss…"

Joker heard Curs heavy arms fall down against his sides. He rubbed his nose in thought, maybe this little favor could turn out to be some fun, "For you Cur…I'll do it."

"Really?" Cur straightened his posture up, "Thanks Boss!"

He turned off the water and was given his towel to dry off, followed by his new set of fantastically designed gray clothing. Joker slipped into them and then appeared out of the shower, "I'll do it if you do me a favor Cur…"

Cur's smile straightened, "What favor?"

He pushed the bottles of shampoo and conditioner into Cur's stomach, "You get me something that smells a little less foul…" Joker smiled evilly into Cur's face and then began walking to the exit.

Cur followed closely behind, "I can do that…what type Boss?" he put the bottles into his pocket and looked at Joker with full concentration.

"What the hell do I care, as long is smells good…get it!"

Cur stopped in his tracks at the frightfulness in Jokers voice, but quickly shook it off, "Yes Boss." He opened the door for him and allowed Joker to exit first, "Sorry Boss…"

After a while of silence between them Cur opened the door to the bathroom area and waited patiently for Joker to step inside.

Joker let out a sigh as he managed to muster up some amount of sympathy for the poor dumb fellow, he reached out and patted him on the back, "That's quite alright Cur…now where's my comb?"

#

"So Joker, how are you?" Harley set her glasses down on the table and then rubbed the bridge of her nose lightly, "Having an okay day so far I hope?"

Jokers chin shook at her unique voice, "Just peachy." He gave her an award winning smile and let his sparkle gleam at her, "And yourself, the same I expect?"

She brought her hand away from her face and gave him a thumbs up signal, "Doin' just fine." Harley brought her hand down to her lap and gave Joker a short grin, "How was your 'woe' party today?"

Joker tilted his head to the side, "Are you feeling alright Harley?" he paused and waited for an answer but Harley only gave him a look of absurdness, "You're shaking…" He pointed his finger at her hand never taking his glare off of her eyes.

"Oh, well I didn't notice." She hid her trembling hand underneath the desk, "I assure you I'm fine." Harley nodded her head and smiled falsely at him.

His eyes seemed to shrug, "If you say so, but I'm here…" he pushed his chin towards his chest, "if you ever need to talk about what's going on." An evilly gifted yet earnest smile lingered for a moment and then he took it away and waited for her reply.

"That's very kind of you, but really I'm fine." She brought her attention to her lap top and grabbed the wireless mouse, her hand still shaking.

Joker kept quiet for a moment. He didn't like that she was shaking, she was clearly scared. Some terrible beast had frightened his precious 'mystery' girl. A monster had come in unannounced and petrified her, worried her, terrified her! Worst of all, it hadn't been him, "You shouldn't protect yourself by a flimsy fence Harley." He leaned his elbow on the chair arm and rested the side of his face in his hand, "One might decide to blow it down…"

Harley gulped down the spit that formed in her mouth and let her eyes travel up to his, "Excuse me?"

"You should protect yourself," He tossed his other hand up in the air and smiled, "with friends." Joker watched her expression, he couldn't quite place what it was, "And I'm your friend Harley. I can protect you."

She looked away from his eyes and back at the computer, her thoughts running like mad. Harley opened her mouth to say something and hesitated for a moment before letting a question come out, "How about that song huh?" She smiled brightly at him, "What song do you want to hear?"

"Lux Aeterna…" Joker looked at her false smile, he wanted to kill whoever it was that made that real and authentic smile disappear. He had given no consent on the operation of their doings, "I've wanted to hear that piece for a while. Do you happen to have it?"

"Oh, I have my ways of getting it." She smiled genuinely now and that made Joker relax and smile, "Secret database…" Harley gave him a mischievous glare.

He cleared his throat in hopes to send that fantastic feeling in his pants away, it only helped a tad. That little look Harley had given him sent quite a buzz through his being, "Ah, even the good doctor has a way of going about things in an illegal manner?"

Harley laughed as she clicked on the song and it started to play softly behind their conversation, "This song is from Requiem for a Dream right?" She listened thoughtfully to it, her hand rubbing her upper lip, her eye lids blinking at their own merriment.

"Yes, quite relaxing." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, disturbing scenes fluttering in and out of his hellhole mind, some with Harley, and some without.

She grabbed Jokers file and opened it, flipping through pages to find something interesting to talk about. Harley grinned at the odd capers he was accused of pulling off. They ranged from innocent stocking stuffer company robberies to dangerous artillery usage and murder. He had such a diverse and wide spread way of committing crime it was almost…almost unbelievable. But here he was, The Joker, right in front of her, it was real alright. If he hadn't been sitting right in front him, with that maniacal smile plastered nicely on his face, that eternal shadow casted neatly around his eyes, if he weren't sitting right there, she wouldn't have believed any of it…not even a word of the accusations they had made.

But he was there…_here_.

"The music is very…dark…in a way but not really." She pushed the folder aside for the time being and focused on Jokers closed eyes, "Why does it relax you?"

He opened them up, exiting kindly from his reverie and nodded, "This song is notable for its use of sharp, often staccato 'un-vibrato-ed' string instruments, the sharpness creates a cold and discomforting sound, which are frequently used for their warmth and softness." He smiled, "That's why it relaxes me."

Harley narrowed her eyes and glanced downwards at the table in concentrated thought, "I don't understand why that would relax you." She looked at the computer screen and saw the equalizer display rapidly peaking and falling, "Wouldn't it be the opposite?"

"To most it would definitely create a feeling of pessimistic fears, as for me?" He shrugged and closed his eyes again, "Well to state this in the most simplest of terms…it is me…"

"It…it is you?" The song ended and started up again, Harley listened intently to the beat. She fell back onto Jokers words trying to figure this out.

Joker sat in his chair calmly waiting for her to understand what he had said, it was quite simple. He laughed in his gut, they just kept digging for deeper meaning with him, that wasn't always the case. Sometimes he left incredibly out in the open clues about what he was trying to prove. In this case it was just him, he was trying to show Harley him, simple.

Harley tapped her pencil on the desk a few times, "What are you trying to get me to realize."

He opened his eyes in amusement, "What's to realize?" He let a subtle grin appear and a short laugh escape from his throat.

"You're trying to tell me something."

Joker leaned forward with hooded eyes, "Please tell, allow this clown to understand the sophisticated and complex mind of Harleen Quinzel." He smiled and touched his finger tips to his chest, "What is it, that I'm _apparently_ trying to get across your mind?"

"You said, 'the sharpness creates a cold and discomforting sound, which are frequently used for their warmth and softness'" Harley adjusted herself in her chair to that of a more comfortable variety, "I just don't know what your trying to say, but I know it has to do with that sentence."

He stared at her for a moment, smile and dark eyes accounted for, and then sat back in his chair, "You think you're pretty smart huh?" Joker tilted his head back, his eyes darker than ever before.

She was taken back, "I didn't mean to question your words Joker, I was just…"

Joker threw his hands in the air and gave her a modest look, "Never extinguish your thoughts with excuses Harley, I know you're smart and I know you know that as well." He smiled at her, hands still raised up with palms facing her, "I apologize if my statement came across in a negative tone, that wasn't my intent."

Harley let out a heavy breath of relief, "You frightened me." She placed her hand over her heart and let out a laugh.

Joker felt something inside his chest stir and lowered his hands back to the arm rests, "That's quite comforting to know that someone can throw such a serious moment over their shoulder, especially when that moment had The Joker involved." He joined in on the laugh, "I express regret for rousing you in such a way."

Harley smiled at him and wiped her brow, "That's okay, it's just been a rough day is all." She motioned back to her lap top and began typing notes of the session into it, "Just a little jumpy."

"Care to talk about it?" Joker spoke low and examined his black nails, carefully examining Harley at the same time.

She tapped her finger on the desk, "Although I appreciate your offer to talk about it with me, I can't." Harley pushed her stray bangs away, "Against the psychology code and everything."

He turned his head to the left and then to the right, "No one here but you and I Harley." A devilish grin perked up on his closely shaven face, "And I won't tell a soul."

"I can't, I took an oath." Harley turned away from his charming features, "How about we talk about you?"

Joker tapped his tongue on the roof of his mouth, "I'm more concerned with the health and well being of my doctor, you seem upset." He motioned his hand back towards her, "You're trembling my dear."

Harley looked back down at her hand, "Really, like I said I've had a rough day. Now please Joker lets refrain from talking about me." Harley pushed her hand flat against the desk.

"Alright." He nodded and smiled brightly, "Let the questions fly!"

"Wait…" Her eyes flashed up at him, "You're concerned?"

Joker gulped and ran his tongue in his mouth. How to best handle the situation…how to best handle the situation, "Well…" He started off.

"You've never been concerned with anyone in your entire history of criminal antics!"

"I'm very well aware of that Harley, but then again no one has ever brought out concern for me." He grinned satisfied with his remark, "Why not show the concern back to the one person who has shown me some subtle amount of pity?"

Harley noted it down on the lap top, "So you're saying if people would just respect you, that maybe you would show concern to them?"

He laughed, "Maybe…" and then shrugged, "though I can't say it doesn't help that the person showing me concern and kindness is in fact a very profoundly developed woman in the aspect of beauty." Joker brought his attention back to her, "Can I?"

Her cheeks reddened just slightly and Joker couldn't help but note down in his mind that she looked damn good in red. If only she would bleed, just bleed a little from her eye…or lips…

Harley watched his left eye brow rise in patience for an answer, "Thank you for the comment, but you need to avoid those remarks alright?" She typed that down as well.

"My apologies…" He scooted back in his chair, loving the fact that she blushed. It was just too perfect, "I'm just striking out from that walk in the garden aren't I?" Joker rubbed his eye, "I was really looking forward to getting some fresh air too, oh well, my burden I suppose!" He let out a lengthy but quiet laugh.

"No, not at all…in fact," Harley smiled brightly at him closing her lap top closed with a bit of force, "would you like to go now?"


	9. My Fight

My Fight #9

"It truly is dreadfully bright out here…" Joker brought his arm up to his face, casting a shadow upon it to hide away the merry sun from his existence. It pushed against his sleeves, his gray uniform battling against the yellow transparent rays, a coexisting fight of the force of the devils work and the force of God's work. A battle with none other than himself, his own internal conflict pestering and bickering with his conscience, fighting over the abuse of Harley, to save her or to break her, this rush of conflicting forces, good verses evil as some may call it, went to no end.

Harley pressed the heel of her hand against the small of his back. _His_ angel beckoning to help, tempting to help him with the hidden conflict of what he was to do with _her_. The irony of the situation caused a rumble in his gut, an indistinguishable roar he was to never come about, "It's been a while since you've been introduced to the 'outside'." A modest creeping angel grin formed on her pleasurable and intimate features, "Since Sunday right?"

"True…" Joker lowered his arm, allowing the battle to take the side of 'good' for the time being. He transformed his lips to change into a seraphs smile, the highest rank of earnest smiles known to the common man, and gracefully looked down upon the glowing aura of heaven beside him, "The sun seems to pick it's victims kindly Harley."

This merry sun gleamed proudly down on this 'mystery' girl, _his 'mystery' girl_, and its rays were casting a perfect blanket of light around her, swirling around her, protecting her from an unknown source. Possibly him? Possibly something else…he didn't know. He felt his throat tighten when her being lit up, her eyes intently shining, and that smile reflecting the light that captured her.

"Thank you." She smiled and took a few steps forward, bringing Joker right along with her.

He walked proudly to the right of her, smiling and viewing the gorgeous garden he had long ago seen only once. Back then, there had been no paths, no fountains, no grass…it had seemed more of a cavernous graveyard than a plentiful garden filled to the tip with pleasant smelling flowers.

Which it now was, and it was quite filled to the heavenly tip with a wide range of various plant life. Deliberately placed plots of dirt had been filled with vegetation of all assortments, and around them consisted of a colorful gray patterned cement path. These beautifully adorned paths had been tapered off from the main lane that resided nicely in the center of the rectangular garden. His purple eyes squinted at the long and seemingly endless course, allowing him to estimate it to be about two hundred yards long and about fifty yards wide. He hadn't remembered it to be this big…

A plentiful amount of fully grown trees lived happily here and there, clearly devoted in a pleasant matter to how they were used for protection against the merry suns harsh rays. It seemed they too were intentionally placed, and underneath each grand tree was a bench that had been dutifully secured to the ground with nuts and bolts.

Harley watched Jokers eyes glide across the immense space as they walked down the middle pathway, and she could almost see an expression of awe in them. They would travel quickly and then abruptly slow their pace to that of a more leisurely concept, taking in the view and calm demeanor of the heavenly area, she guessed, he seldom got to experience, "How often did you get to come back here?"

He smiled and created a laugh within his throat, "This is the first time I've been back here." He glanced over at a few inmates talking, "At least since they decided to actually pursue their plan of creating a rather impressive image."

The inmates stood by a garden plot and conversed with one another. It actually seemed to be that they were enjoying themselves among the frolicking flowers which moved gently with the light breezy wind that had suddenly come through. Joker narrowed his white lids closer together and imagined what it must be like…to be like them. So mortal, so unknowing…

"Oh." Harley stopped their relaxing stroll in front of one of the more intensely filled garden squares. She removed her hand from his back and stood face to face with him, using him as a perfect tool to block the unforgiving sun, "You were here at Arkham when it was being developed weren't you? I saw in your records that you were."

His head bowed a little more so he could concentrate better on her, "Yes I was, although my doctor at the time didn't think it was appropriate for me to enjoy the sight of seeing this lovely yard produced." He grinned and turned his head to look at the vast amount of flora behind Harley in the square, "It's a shame I missed out on the, I'm sure, memorable experience."

"Why did your doctor not allow you to participate?" Harley looked down at the same flowers and listened to Joker take a step to her side.

Now instead of looking at the flowers, he rearranged his view to be the profile of Harley from his height, "Like I said before, they don't really seem to be all too fond of little ol' me here at Arkham."

"I'm sorry for that." She kept her stance but looked up at his charming smile, "If I ever in anyway start to seem rude, or unpleasant in regards to my treatment plan towards you, please by all means allow me to know about it."

"I will." He somehow managed to take his eyes off of the beautiful specimen before him, and let it wander off again to the incredible garden. He noticed that in the middle of the inspiring back yard was a large and spectacular fountain that resided in a naturally calm setting. Something urged him to near it, "Do you mind if we go to the fountain, I'd like to see it up close."

"No not at all." She responded optimistically and ventured with him to it, smiling at him once they finally reached the spring.

Joker ran his bleached hand along the large bowl like bottom that held the falling water. Pebbles of rock and dirt clung to his hand as he smoothed the cement statue with his palm. He looked at the statue itself, a large rendition of what seemed to be an alteration of Nike Adjusting Her Sandal…although he wasn't positive. The water came from no where, it seemed, flowing majestically down her carved and rippled filled clothing, "That's beautiful, Nike Adjusting Her Sandal correct?" He looked down at Harley who had been watching his attentiveness to the statue.

"Yes." She moved her gaze to the statue now, "Yes I think so."

He kept his hand against the cold and damp cement, "Why did you choose to allow me to come back here? To enjoy the Arkham garden I mean."

"You have multiple reports of acting in a pleasant manner around the staff members that have been working with you." Harley smiled and walked over to a nearby bench that was covered in shade. Joker watched her sit down and then he too moved over to where she sat. Harley looked up at him and then patted the empty seat next to her, "Sit. I figured you deserve a reward for your behavior, I mean it's been about four days since you killed someone." She tossed her hand in the air as Joker took his approved seat to the right of her, "That's got to be a record of some type right?"

Joker laughed, "I'm sure it has to be." He had a clear view of one of the walls that surrounded the area, a sniper dozed lazily at the top of his appointed tower. Joker next glanced casually to his sides, no guard looking in his direction. He looked down at the short distance between them on the bench, her hand…her soft and fragile hand resided three inches away next to his, "You know, just being out here…it calms a fellow." Joker pressed his back against the bench and sighed, "The air…the mood…I don't know but it's quite the means for relaxation." He did another quick look around with his eyes, still the guards paid no attention to him.

The fingers that lingered dangerously close to Harleys tapped in a patterned movement, "It relaxes you?"

"Oh yes." He turned his head toward her and smiled, "It's very nice, very comforting." Joker brought his right leg up and crossed it over his left. He leaned his elbow against the arm of the bench and held his face soothingly, "Is it comforting to you?"

Harley pressed her knees together and looked down at the cemented walkway, "Very."

He slid his hand and inch closer to hers without her knowing, "Personally I find it much more suitable for conversational means…rather than a confined room."

"Does it make you feel like you can express yourself more?" She shot her head up and looked at him eagerly, "Like you'd be able to talk more freely about subjects?"

Joker felt his blood begin to race as his purple eyes met with her blue ones, "Perhaps." He kept his eyes on hers and moved his hand about half an inch closer to her oblivious one, "Although, if it were any other doctor," he smiled and tilted his head to the side, "I wouldn't be able to talk freely about anything. It wouldn't feel…_true_."

"If your behavior remains steady like this," She glanced back towards the ground and away from her patient, "I'm sure we can come out here for the last part of your sessions," her left foot rubbed against her right ankle, "and then gradually, if you're up to it, we can have our sessions out here. I wouldn't mind bringing my clipboard with me to write down our sessions together." Her breathing seemed slower, "I wouldn't mind at all."

Joker smiled and looked quickly at his surroundings, the chattering guards busily amused themselves with other doctors and patients, this was his chance. The perfect environment, the perfect time…

"Harley?"

She brought her attention back onto him and her eyes were filled with concern, "Yes Joker?"

Joker pushed his hand the remaining way and gently took hold of hers, "Please tell me why you're shaking." He stroked her palm with his thumb in an appropriate way, "I'd like for you to tell me." Joker watched carefully to how he held her hand, making sure it was as fitting as can be considering the situation in which he presented his distress, "I think if you could tell me…I might be able to feel more at ease around you…more open." He let go of her hand and looked up at her with utmost worry in his eyes, "Will you tell me what has gotten you so tense?"

Harley placed her hand onto her lap and then looked up at him. She licked her lips hastily and then pinched the bridge of her nose, "It isn't appropriate for me to be discussing it with you."

"Please Harley." He turned his body toward her, still watching for guards.

She looked down at her lap to see her hand trembling more than it had been previously. Harley tried to tighten the muscles in the shaking leaf but it came to a negative conclusion as it only shook more. Then a noble hand reached out and grasped it once more.

"I'm your friend…you can tell me…" He pulled her hand away from her lap and then reached out with his other hand to firmly grasp it as well, "Don't hide behind a insubstantial enclosure…at least strengthen it with friends Harley." Joker set her hand back down and casually placed his in his lap.

"Earlier today, I had a session with one of my other patients. He made some dangerous threats against me." She couldn't take her eyes away from his, no matter how hard she tried, "It just got to me…I've never had one of my patients threaten me before. It woke me up, let me realize how dangerous this job actually is."

Joker smiled, "Thank you Harley…thank you for trusting me. You don't have to say another word."

She took a deep breath as she stared at the ground in front of her, "Thank you. I feel relieved in a way. I tried to tell Dr. Arkham, but I got frightened because my patient made other _promises_ if Dr. Arkham found out." Harley stood up and smoothed out her skirt, "Come on, time to get you back to your room."

Joker got up on his feet and stood in front of Harley. Her arms were crossed on her chest and her gaze was placid on his Arkham socks. He could see how much she was still trembling, obviously those threats meant big business to her. Joker walked back with her down the main pathway, "I know it's hard Harley, but you should relax. I promise you…you will have nothing to worry about. These threats this other patient made towards you? I seriously doubt he'd go through with them…" He looked kindly down at her.

"I want to think that, but then again, this is an insane asylum."

Both were quiet for a moment as they passed the same group of inmates who had been conversing earlier, then Joker spoke up, "He's probably just trying to intimidate you, get your blood pumping, your mind working…don't let him win Harley." He smiled down at her as she looked up at him, "Fight back."

"What do you mean?" She swiped her access card through the meter to reenter the asylum and the two of them began to walk down the hall way.

"Don't let him get to you." They turned a corner and stood before an elevator. Harley pressed the up button and waited patiently for the elevator to make its way to their floor, "That's exactly what he's trying to do, I bet you right now he's sitting in his room thinking about how he made you uncomfortable." The elevator sounded and it opened for them to enter into.

They both took a step in where a guard stood waiting with a taser at hand, "Back of the elevator." He motioned for Joker to move towards the back and he did so without hesitation.

Harley stood next to the guard, as she was instructed to do. The elevator door closed and Harley pressed the button corresponding to the floor they wanted to go. She made eye contact with Joker and smiled sweetly after a moment.

Joker smiled back and then looked at the guard who had been looking at him. Joker gave him a slight head tilt and even brighter smile, "Hi…"

The guard sniffled and shuffled his feet.

"How are you doing this afternoon?"

He didn't respond, he only popped his neck.

"Well aren't we just the pleasant little chatter box…" he shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground.

Harley let a small laugh bleed out of her and she simultaneously threw her hand up to her mouth to stop her rudeness. The guard turned and looked at her with a puzzled glare, keeping it on her, pondering why on earth she was laughing to Jokers remarks.

Joker had looked up when the energizing laughter from Harley had made a subtle entrance into his world. His throat tightened again and he smiled enigmatically and amiably at Harley. Joker noticed how the guard still looked at her with great confusion, and she looked at himself with her hand still covering her mouth in suppression. Joker stuck his tongue out at the sentinel and rolled his eyes in a playful fashion. Harley laughed again, and the guard turned quickly back to The Joker to see him still looking at the elevator ground lost in his own thoughts.

The elevator opened and the guard crooked his neck and motioned for Harley to step out first. Once she was cleanly out, the guard now aimed his taser onto Joker, "Out."

Joker paid no attention to him as he walked pass the overgrown ape. Honestly, thinking he was intimidating Joker with a mere plastic taser, amusing…

After a while of more walking down the halls of the depressing Arkham walkways, they appeared in front of Jokers room, "Sorry Joker…" Harley swiped her access card and the large door opened with a hissing gloomy sound.

"Oh…I'll manage." He smiled and took a step into his room, glancing around the plain walls that he so desired were filled with gruesome images of his doings. He did a full turn around until he made contact again with her angel like eyes, and lowered his head and smiled at her, "Will you please remember to just relax, and fight back by not worrying about that horrid cretin?"

Harley folded her arms in front of her, "I will." She looked at the floor and then back up at Joker, "Thank you for being such a great patient. I just want to tell everyone…that if they were just kind to you…"

Joker walked over to her divine image, "I know Harley…" He folded his hands in front of him, "I'm sure that your other patient…I'm sure he will receive a respectful amount of karma for the threats he put upon you." He tapped his finger against his leg, "Do you believe in karma?"

She smiled warmly, "I believe in fate, destiny, maybe even coincidence…karma that I'm not sure of yet." Harley closed the door to his room, "How about you? Do you believe in karma?"

"Although I have not dedicated myself to the Hindu or Buddhist philosophy, I do believe that the quality of somebody's current and future lives can be determined by that person's behavior in this and in previous lives."

"You believe in previous lives?"

He shrugged, "Possibly, I'm not sure. But I do believe in karma Harley, and I promise you that this other patient will get what's coming to him in some due time. I truly do."


	10. Not Good

Not…Good #10

This was not good…no this was simply not good.

Joker paced his room like an untamed beast waiting intolerantly to be freed from his treacherous cage. Starting at one corner of the door he would stare fixated on the hall way waiting for that oblivious Cur to let him out. His steps hurried from heel to toe as he made his way to the other corner of the door, pounding against that cold and icy ground beneath him, leaving a damp foot print where his steps had been, his hot and fiery soul conflicting hazardously with the cool and tranquil floor that had been put down so peacefully underneath him.

"_Hurry up already_!" his enraged voice echoed endlessly back at him in his enclosed space.

Joker turned on his heel and went back to his starting point, arms tensed and folded together across his back. His pace quickening as he thought about what that deranged monster had said to his poor innocent Harley. The unimaginable never ending list of threats that could have been made to her precious soul, the tone of which that ogre may have used, and his eyes had probably been shoved down her own out of ferocity. He should have been able to do that first, it was only right of course.

But that wasn't the only reason Joker had become so infuriated with this 'other patient', no this was not good. This other…thing, was disturbing his system. He was throwing his own thoughts and actions into disorder and confusion, now we simply just can't do that, it isn't right, and well, it's merely uncouth.

Whatever this…item was doing, whatever his so called mind was trying to cleverly produce, it was clumsy and ungraceful. Purely unimaginative to say the least, and the fact that this patient was disturbing _his_ delicate plan was plainly uncalled for. His neck should be wrung until he pleads for mercy, and then right when you let go of his throat, when he thinks he has been saved from the heavens above…Joker would laugh and then slice his demented body while he unleashed his frightful chuckle, _and _he would dance _and_ he would scream out of joy in the blood that would fall around him.

No, that wasn't good enough…that wasn't enough torture for what this ill-mannered and uncivilized thing was doing to his fragile plan. He needed every single bone to be unjustly broken, snapped, wrecked, and snapped again. Yes, every single bone, every single one of the 206 that had been so kindly given to him…would be broken at an individual time.

Joker would send him through 206 layers of hell instead of the 666, one layer for every bone. He couldn't imagine being able to subdue himself into staying with the grand total of 666, he wouldn't be able to stand letting him live that long, getting through just one layer would be torture. But it would also be fun. Yes…fun!

He would start with his feet, break the bones that gave him support, let him relish in the pain from the very start, no letting up with this stupid, impolite, and crude individual. He would crush his distal phalanges, that would take five days, and then the next five days he would crush the middle phalanges. And as for the time in between, when he already graciously broke the bone of his choosing for the day, he would rip his tendons, and tare his muscles. Listen to the quite and calming sound of his ligament snapping, ripping, stretching, oh anything that sounded like pain would do!

Oh and wouldn't it be just delightful, enchanting, charming, if he would scream loud and beg and beckon for mercy while he slowly killed him. As he would slowly pull on his Achilles tendon, feel the restraint of it at first, for it too would beg for forgiveness, and then finally it would rip out of place and his victim would scream and cry and shriek and squeal and yell and bawl and yelp! And he, the man who would politely take time out of his day to perform the ruthless pain to this pathetic sap, would hoot and snicker and chuckle and cackle and chortle and snort and laugh! Oh yes would he laugh…

Laugh as if it were his last day to laugh, loud and strong, deafening the poor fellow who so egotistically thought of himself over his superior…stupid man.

He would make this fellow bleed, make him bleed an incredible amount, make him bleed until he couldn't hear himself think. It would be inadequate for him to think anyways, and as long as he could register pain, then thinking was not required.

Although, and this saddened our beloved clown, he couldn't make him ooze too much. Couldn't have the rude man die early on, that wouldn't be a means of laughter. That wouldn't be fun at all…

So after he would break a few bones, tear and rip out a few tendons, he would play with his mind. Twist his words, twist his actions, and twist that crude individuals psyche. Maybe, because this would be positively hilarious, just stare at him…make him wonder what the hell he was thinking. Is he going to break another bone? Is he going to kill me? Or am I just going to be his playful bug in a jar for the rest of my life?

Just pondering about what his expression would look like…it sent a shiver down our still pacing prince's spine. A look of shock, or possibly pain? Maybe even some amount of forgiveness in his eyes, and they would start to water…like a rusty faucet that just wouldn't stop dripping…and those tears would caress his bloody cheeks, flowing and mixing with the blood, creating the most desirable of hues.

And this inconsiderate soul would deserve the brutal torture Joker had in store for him. Deserved every ounce of his strength to viciously stomp all over him. He had made her shake…made her tremble…made her worry…that was _his_ job.

Even the thought process of worrying her was just downright cliché, threats? Honestly who does threats nowadays? Get creative, get into your own mind and dig for new ideas and let those ideas grow like a fire! Grow and grow until you have something that is so unimaginable, so cunning, that you yourself have to give a slight bow to your work. Threats? Please…Harley deserved a lot more credit than that, she deserved the highest rank of manipulation and Joker would provide it in the most substantial way. Manipulating her luxurious and valuable thoughts through a damned means of threats? That deserved an extra amount of kidney stabbing my coarse friend.

Cur came into Jokers view and he quietly stopped his pacing. He turned his body to face Cur, his foot tapping in a rapid fire against the hard floor, his arms still behind his back, and his eyes darkened even more so than what they previously had been. His stance kept in a statutory state, frozen into the position that it was in, his foot quickly stopping as Cur slid his access card through the meter. Joker's eyes were the only thing that moved, keeping them transfixed upon the unaware employee before him.

Cur had finally looked up from his routine of opening the door, and he was somewhat taken back by the eeriness of his Boss. Cur took a step to the side, and watched at how the statue's eyes followed his actions, "Are you okay?"

Cur felt an undesirable feeling flush through him as he looked at The Joker. He wouldn't move, only his eyes seemed to have the will to move, that was ultimately creepy in his book. The way this statue stared at him with ominous eyes, his head slightly looking down to add to the effect of his darkened aura was working splendidly to Cur. He swallowed down a lump and then cleared his throat waiting for any kind of movement besides his eyes. And he wished he would stop staring at him with those devilish pupils.

After about a minute more of this constant stare, The Joker huffed out a long and heavy breath out of his nose, "You're late."

Cur looked down at his wrist to check his watch, "But I'm ten minutes early Boss." He looked back up at Joker, meeting again with his intense glare, "See? Look…" he walked up to Joker and held out his wrist for him to examine.

Joker snapped out of his statue like state and grabbed forcefully onto Curs wrist, "If I say, you're late…then you're late! Got it?!" he tossed his arm forcefully away from him and began to walk out into the hallway, passing Cur with a brutal and unremorseful bash to the shoulder, acting as if he hadn't even been standing in front of him.

Cur's back hit against one of the walls of Jokers room and he blinked rapidly at what had just happened. He pushed away from the wall quickly and walked next to Joker quietly.

The Joker stopped in the middle of the hall and Cur did as well. Joker's eyes crept to the bottom of his socket to look at Cur from the corner of his view, "I said…got it?" his once harsh tone was now more serene, but still an edge was present.

"Yes Boss." He looked up at his superior, waiting for his next response.

Joker twisted his body towards Cur and smiled, "Good man!" he resumed his walking with a straightened back and high placed chin, "Did you get what I asked you to receive Cur?"

He cleared his throat, "Yea, I got it." Cur scratched his forehead, "It's in my locker, I'll bring it with me when I come to take you for your rituals, is that okay?" a hopeful 'yes Cur' was all he asked for.

"Perfect."

The two turned a corner and were soon in front of the dining room entrance. Cur opened the door for his Boss and then quietly turned his back to the inmates in the room and asked Joker a question, "Have you written the note yet?"

Joker smiled, "Not until I know you got what I asked for." He tilted his head and moved closer to Cur, "I really want to make sure that it's the good stuff!" he lifted a brow and tilted his head to the other side, "But don't you worry Cur! I've got my mind working on it…don't you agonize your little mind." With that he walked into the dining area, listening to the babbling idiot behind him.

"Alright Boss!"

Joker stopped and turned on his heel and gave Cur a vice filled glance. That's all he had to do to get it through his thick skull that calling him 'Boss' in this environment was not acceptable. Cur's smile dissipated and he nodded as he comprehended what the look meant. He closed the doors and left hurriedly.

Joker turned back around to see that none of these senseless and deliberately thoughtless souls had noticed Cur's pitiable choice of words. He walked to the dinner line and waited his turn to receive that not so delicious looking thing, whatever it was, on the trays of the people ahead of him. He rolled his eyes and sighed, running his finger along the cold steel of the poles that indicated where the line was to be placed. Three guards stood on the opposite side of the poles, looking at the inmates to make sure no foul play was conducting.

He himself paid no attention to them, truly this time lost in his own thought. Surprisingly, not much was going on in his inferno, it was rather calm at the moment. He smiled guessing it had to do with the fact that he had used a lot of his energy to think about the other patient that had frightened his Harley.

Joker took a step forward and then leaned his back against the horizontal pole, waiting in a bored state to receive that thing they were serving.

This other patient needed to be taught a lesson, and he would do that, surely, just as soon as he found out who this damn bastard was. He would have to do some poking around, some snooping, and choose some cleverly orchestrated words to get the information he desired. No big deal, just some extra work.

Extra work that could have been easily avoided if this imbecile hadn't interfered with his work in the first place.

He stepped forward again and was handed a metal tray, and then he rested his back once again against the pole. Joker pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow, gently tapping the tray against his knee. He couldn't help but realize how bored he was. Even Harley had brought up the sad fact that he hadn't killed anyone since Sunday, he hadn't even caused a hilarious moment of mischief in a while, well besides Harley and Cur.

Joker puffed his cheeks out and then slowly let the air release from his mouth. He looked down at the tray that rested carefully against his knee…hmm…

His hand had been inactive against the pole behind him, and now he tapped his index finger casually upon it. He looked up from the tray and at the person who was ahead of him in the line…

He now looked over his shoulder to see where the guards resided, the closest one being about five feet away from his location. His eyes lingered back down to the tray.

Wouldn't be much reason behind doing it, only to momentarily cure his boredom. He would most likely get in trouble, and that would risk him getting to go out with Harley to the garden. He did rather enjoy that, it was very calming and relaxing surprisingly.

But he was so incredibly bored at the moment. He didn't have his toys to play with, didn't have Cur or his Harley, or anyone else. Why should he be taken away from his normal doings? Right now he would be cheerily talking and conversing with people he had never known, just to bug them, just to get everyone's attention on him. He would laugh at his jokes and somehow enjoy his meal, and he would even possibly hurt someone.

But now something was on the line, his privileges may be revoked. He may not get to spend as much time playing with Harley, that wasn't something to risk, no sir not in the least. He did dreadfully want to see her again, he couldn't get enough of her voice, her awe inspiring lips and smile.

His brow lifted and he looked at the inmate in front of him again…that might work. He might be able to get sent back to Harley for some evaluation of to why he wanted to bash this tray against that particular mans head…and it would be funny. He would unquestionably get a laugh out of it, others may not but oh well, sad is life…theirs were anyway.

Joker lifted the tray to his chest and patted it there for a moment still contemplating the pros and cons of his anticipated actions.

"Dr. Quinzel is…no…hell yea I…kill…Quinzel…rubbed me…wrong way…"

His hand tightened against the tray and Joker turned around pressing his stomach now against the horizontal pole. He noticed a man conversing with two other inmates at a table. He listened and watched him intently, his chest warming to the idea of his new scheme of fun. After a moment of finally realizing that this guy was in fact a patient of Harley's, he turned back around and examined the back of the inmate in front of him.

"Pardon me…" Joker waited until the inmate turned to his attention. He wanted to laugh at the expression the fellow made after realizing that The Joker had been standing behind him and he hadn't realized, "Mind answering some questions?" Joker smiled, "I've got a feeling you know the answers."

The inmate swallowed, "Sure, I'll try to, but just don't hurt me okay?" his eyes darted crazily around in his sockets.

Joker lifted his chin and took a small step towards the inmate, "Do you happen to know that guy?" he pointed over his shoulder at the other patient behind him.

The inmate looked slyly around Joker's tall physique, "I'm not positive," His lids narrowed around his eyes, "but I think that's Jacob Nevin or Nevier something like that." He looked up at Joker who still smiled.

"Thanks…" he pointed ahead of him to the waiting food attendant, and the inmate quickly obliged and received his food.

Joker held out his tray and smiled as he stood tall and straight, his eyes closed tightly and teeth glowing proudly. He felt the tray become heavier and he saluted sarcastically to the lady who had filled his tray. He turned quickly and eyed Jacob. Joker wasn't positive if this was the 'other patient' or not, but he would find out.

He walked down the main aisle and after passing two tables, he stopped and turned to the third one, the one where Jacob sat eating his meal. He stood for a moment, at the edge of the table, right next to Jacob, until Jacob himself realized that someone was standing next to him.

He looked up from his meal and became startled, sliding down the bench about a foot or two away in fear of why The Joker was interested in him, why he was standing there, just why.

Joker smiled and plopped himself down next to him, "How thoughtful, you opened a seat up just for me?" he batted his lashes and held his chest, "Such kind people around here…"

"What do you want?" Jacob asked with haste and annoyance in his voice.

Joker brought his chin to his chest, "Now, now, let's not be rude." He let a toothy smile show, "Your name is Jacob right?"

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**_Reviews are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!_**


	11. Jacoby!

* * *

Jacoby! #11

Jacob's eyes travelled away from The Joker's charming and odd charisma, "Yea, my name's Jacob." He straightened his back and tried to toughen his appearance, "Why do you want to know?"

Joker calmly leaned back, hands held tightly onto the edge of the table, and gave Jacob a sincere smile, "And have you been prescribed to be Dr. Quinzel's patient?" he held himself in this position, waiting for an answer.

"What does that matter?" Jacob slid further away from The Joker, "What the hell is going on? What did I do to you?"

Joker sensed the panic in his eyes, and chuckled quietly, "Well now big fella." he grabbed the apple from his dinner tray and allowed himself to slide with Jacob down the bench, "What did you expect?" Joker took a large bite out of his apple and chewed while smiling at the frightened thing that kept sliding away, "I have to get to know my blind date before I can play…I'm really not one to kiss on first encounters."

Jacob stopped his cowardly sliding and now permitted himself to enter a cowardly search for a nearby guard. He prayed that someone was watching, that anyone was noticing that this incredibly dangerous and unpredictable mad man was pursuing him. He had remembered seeing one man die slowly in one of the main hallways of Arkham, the poor guy leaning lifelessly against the wall, his own intestine tightly wound around his neck, and his mouth agape in hope that some oxygen may linger into him.

No one knew why The Joker had killed him, no one knew why The Joker had killed anyone. Everyone decided that he must have his own reasons, and therefore they wouldn't interfere with them. They didn't dare, or they may become one of those lifeless objects bleeding in a hallway, dying slowly with no remorse given to them. They didn't ask, they didn't interfere, and they left him alone, letting him do his own thing…or else…

"Yea, she's my doctor." Jacob once again strengthened his posture and held his chin high, "What of it?"

Joker examined his light green apple, noting the sour taste, the rolling juices flowing over the crisp skin, "Ain't that a co-inky dink?" he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked at Jacob through the corner of his eye, "She's my doctor as well…"

Jacob kept still, his chin still proudly and yet gutlessly, raised in the air, "What are you getting at?"

"Oh!" he took another bite of the apple, "I just…" he swallowed, "heard you had her as a doctor is all. I mean she's new here right? Only a few months has she been here and well I was curious to know what you thought of her." Joker raised a brow, "So what do you think of the new doc?"

His brows furrowed, "You just want to know what I think of my doctor?"

Joker set his apple down on the table harshly, he didn't like that Jacob was referring to Harley as _his_ doctor. Harley was his and his alone, not this scrawny being in front of him. He smiled and placed one of his hands on his chest, "Hey, what kind of guy do you think I am?" a small throaty chuckle rose from within him, "I'm just a curious, harmless, clown…"

"Right." Jacob mumbled in a sarcastic tone.

Joker tapped his fingers on the table and spoke darkly, "Easy now, just because I don't kiss on first dates Jacoby…" his other hand clenched into a fist of warning, "doesn't mean that you won't get lucky and get one on date number two eh?"

Jacob took in a long breath, "Okay…" he looked into The Jokers piercing pupils, "What do you want to know?"

He released the tension in his words and changed back to his lighter tone, "When was the last time you and good ol' doc Quinzel had a session?" he leaned his elbow against the table and waited with an unpleasant and dreadful smile for his response.

"Just this morning." His jaw trembled slightly, "I have sessions with her every Thursday morning…"

He nodded his head in an approving manner, "Ah…" a smile happily growing on his face, he shot his eyes back at Jacob, "What'd ya talk about?"

Jacob looked into his eyes, "We talked about…" he scratched the back of his head, "my ex-wife."

"Your ex?" his brows rose alarmingly high, "Please further explain your ever so interesting past…"

"What's to explain?" his eyes fell onto the table, not showing much care, "It's just like every other sad story in here, well most of em' anyways…she pissed me off and I killed her." His teeth clenched, "The stupid bitch cheated on me, so I shot her. That's all we talked about."

Joker yawned, "That's all you talked about?" he leaned towards Jacob, "I think the miserable little nobody is keeping something from good old Uncle Joker hmm?"

Jacob's angry demeanor quickly passed, "I swear it's all we talked about, honest."

"Alright, then tell me what you think of _my_ doctor." He grabbed a dinner roll off of Jacob's plate and munched on it while Jacob thought of the right words to choose.

"I hate her."

Joker popped his neck and smiled, "Why?" he shoved the rest of the roll in his mouth and then examined his black nails.

Jacob looked down at the ground, "I don't want to discuss my life with her, and yet she keeps pestering me for answers! It's none of her business, it's none of anyone's business in this damn place!" he slammed his fist against the table, "No one get's it! It's my life! Not theirs!"

Joker laughed loudly to himself, Jacob was a fool, "I completely understand Jacob my boy," Joker spoke in a calming tone, "and I agree one hundred percent with you…"

Jacob shot a shocked glance back up at Joker, "You do?"

"Well of course, why should they know everything that happens in our lives?" Joker gave him an inquiring look, "And then we ask them about their lives and we get shoved in the face for it. It's very inhumane, very rude…"

"Yea!" Jacob pompously exclaimed.

Joker smiled and spoke low, "But Jacoby, what do you do when life gives you lemons?" his purple eyes anticipated his reaction.

Jacob adjusted himself in his seating and looked at the table, "You make lemonade?" he looked back up at Joker with a puzzled look.

"Well personally I make apple juice, and sit back to watch everyone wonder just how the hell I did it," he gave a laugh and then got back to significance, "But you and your simple mind make lemonade." Joker turned his head to the side but kept his eyes on his victim, "Have you made your lemonade yet?"

Jacob smiled after a moment of thought, "Yea, I made my lemonade."

"Good, good." He smiled and leaned back, "What was this uncarbonated soft drink made from, if you'd please enlighten my inquisitive thoughts." He pushed his chin to his chest again, "I'm eager to know how your mind works friend."

Jacob proudly stated, "I made some threats, told her I was going to kill her while she slept. I told her I was bustin' out of this place and I would immediately find her and shoot her in the temple…just like I did to my ex." He patted the table top when he was finished.

"Threats…" he smiled a large toothy smile, so this _was_ the guy that made his sweet Harley tremble and shake, "what an interesting ingredient..."

Jacob smiled and laughed, "You should have seen the look on her face!" he tossed his head back, "She looked like she was going to piss her pants man!"

Joker tapped his fingers rhythmically against the bench seat. He wanted to throw his hand to this guys face, and then slowly dig his fingers into his eyes and pull them out, watching all the nerves and tendons snap and shake...he wanted to make pitiable diminutive minded, unaware Jacob shake mirthlessly.

"She couldn't stop shaking, not until the guards finally came and retrieved me…man it felt good!"

Joker smiled but the tips of his fingers pounded harder against the seat. _He_ was supposed to be feeling good, _he_ was supposed to have enjoyed her shaking, him not this swine!

Jacob slapped his knee, "She kept quiet the entire time after I told her to fuck off! In fact, she couldn't even make eye contact with me…she's a horrible doctor, can't even control her own emotions."

He swallowed, still gleaming over Jacob's bragging, he was going to kill him. No doubt in his wide mind, Jacob would be dead, and very soon.

"Her hands trembled when she tried to type into her computer, it was priceless man, wish you could have seen it…"

Joker cleared his throat, "You know Jacob," He cocked his head and continued, "I hate to tell you this but, lemonade and apple juice…they just simply don't mix, right?"

Jacob nodded, "Uh, I guess not." he laughed.

Joker looked over his shoulder to check his surroundings, "I don't usually do this on first dates Jacob." He smiled and looked back at the oblivious and crude individual.

Jacob smiled but kept quiet.

"But you see," his purple eyes became red and he looked intensely at Jacob, "I just can't have you interfering with my work, it's simply not polite."

"What?"

He smiled, "Harley, Dr. Quinzel, is my doctor and mine alone. I have plans for her, and you just keep interrupting me from achieving my secular tactics."

His expression became one of anger and confusion, "Dr. Quinzel is my doctor too! I didn't do anything to your 'plan' man."

"Oh Jacob, if you only had a brain that was working." Joker placed his hand on the top of the table and pushed down on it to help himself up, "I'll be seeing you around…"

"Where the fuck do you think your going? I wasn't done talking with you!"

Joker sat back down immediately and gave him an eerie smile as he grabbed onto Jacobs collared Arkham shirt, "Now see here my rude friend…we cannot be talking to our superiors in such a manner. Don't you agree?"

"Don't hurt me, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that I swear!" he held his hands up in the air begging for forgiveness.

The dining hall instantly became silenced as everyone watched the show, some hoping for blood, others hoping they could keep down their meals.

"Joker put him down!" A sentinel aimed his taser at Jokers back, fingers prepared to pull the trigger if he had to.

Joker looked at Jacob and then patted him lightly on the cheek, "Did I frighten you?" he watched Jacob shake and tremble, "Oh good…I wanted to make you shake a bit before I gave you that meaningful kiss Jacob, because I do truly believe you deserve it. You've been an awfully naughty boy after all…"

He slammed the side of Jacobs face against the table and a loud crack echoed through the room. The guard behind Joker pulled the trigger but much to his surprise, the electric lines didn't shoot out. He tried again as Joker slammed Jacobs face down on the table repeatedly, but it was unsuccessful.

"My tasers jammed! Powery use yours!" the guard yelled to an officer who stood to the back of Jacob.

Powery ran to a clean spot to get an open shot on Joker, he pulled his trigger and nothing happened, "Mine's jammed too!"

Joker pushed Jacob onto the ground and then pressed his knees into Jacobs's stomach, "You went too far in your pathetic unimaginative threats boy!" Joker then pushed his thumbs violently hard into Jacob's eyes. He listened to his agonizing screams, his distressing yelps, and his excruciating pleading for amnesty.

A guard grabbed onto Jokers waist and tried to pull him away but was quickly elbowed in the jaw by Jokers resentful actions.

Joker watched how each eye popped out, they were nervous to make an entrance into the world they watched everyday, but they soon rationalized that they would venture into that dazzling world. That maybe they would be successful in that intense and fantastically created planet, but they were sadly mistaken when they came out, for they landed right into the clutches of the Devil. Blood flowed promptly over Jacob's cheeks and Joker laughed ominously as he pulled on the eyes and listened to the snapping tendons and nerves.

"Get the sedatives!" One of the guards bellowed out.

Another sentinel ran to the exit doors, "I have to get his doctor!" the sentinel spoke loudly into his walkie-talkie, "Code 09 in the dining hall, code 09!" he ran down the hall listening to the alert signal buzz loudly, and then finally reached Dr. Quinzel's room. He opened the door, "Dr. Quinzel…" he puffed, "Code 09 in the dining hall…we need…sedatives!"

"Joker?" she jumped up and grabbed the sedatives rushing out the door and down the hall with the guard, "What did he do?"

"He's killing Jacob Neven…"

Harley's pace quickened, "Jacob Neven? Why is he doing that?" her thoughts moved rapidly and then it hit her, "Oh my God…"

The guard opened the door and to their ultimate surprise, Joker sat humbly at his seat with his tray of food. He chewed quietly on the rest of his apple, blood dripping from his hands and sleeves, and cleared his throat before grabbing his glass of water and sipping on it. The guards had been knocked unconscious and lay withered on the floor in various spots.

Joker set down his glass and looked up at the entrance door, "Oh!" he exclaimed and stood up happily with arms wide, he moved into the main walk way of tables and stood in full view for Harley to see that his clothes were filled with blood. Joker smiled his trade name smile, "Hello there doc!"

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**_Yay! Congratulations Heath!! _**

**Winner of Best Supporting Actor in a Major Motion Picture goes to...HEATH LEDGER FOR HIS ROLE AS THE JOKER IN THE DARK KNIGHT**

**Congrats...you will be forever missed...but never forgotten~**


	12. I Love Apple Juice

I _Love_ Apple Juice? #12

Harley tapped her pencil to a steady but slow beat on her desk. Her hand lay cleanly placed over her mouth while her elbow rested heavy against the table top. Her bright blue eyes cowardly hid behind her glasses from the white, straight-jacketed image that sat oh so humbly in front of her.

She watched him suck on the inside of his cheek as he turned his head around to view her office, seeing if anything new had shown up since their last visit together. He would hum quietly and tap his foot against the ground for a moment and then stop and rub his nose against his shoulder, trying to relieve himself of an itch he had, no remorse for the horrendous act he had just committed. He acted as if the entire incident had never occurred. Acted as if just a shallow leaf had fallen from a mighty tree, drifted casually to the ground and then crumpled up and died…he acted as if this was normal…_normal_…to any human being.

Joker after a few more moments of silence brought his eyes onto his doctor, "We should partake in the listening of a song." He smiled and tilted his head, "What do you think?"

She grabbed the mouse for her computer with her free hand and lifted her hand away from her mouth slightly to speak, "What song?" she covered her mouth fully again once finished with her question.

"I think we should listen to…" he closed one eye and looked to the ceiling with his other, straining hard to choose a good song, "Swan Lake."

Harley looked at her lap top and then gingerly took her hand away from her face and began to type in the song. After another few moments of silence the song started to play quietly behind them.

"Do you know who Jacob Neven is?" she spoke calmly to him, her hands resting on her knees as she turned her chair to face him.

"Jacob Neven," his eyes became dark and narrow as he thought about it, "that's that dead guy in the dining hall."

She sighed, "Why did you kill Jacob Neven?"

The song filled his ears as he listened intently to the changing pace of the beat, "I like this song, it has a fascinating way of pacing itself from dangerous to calm. It alternates like a swift wind, not harsh, not sudden. It works up to it, but…unseen…" he grinned and then touched his tongue to his nose for a second and then curled it back into his mouth, "the instruments are calm and pleasant at first so the beat remains calm and pleasant. But then those instruments create harsh notes, they interrupt the beat. So…the beat attacks back, stronger than the instruments, because those instruments underestimate the beat. They don't even think about the beat…they just disrupt its tactics."

"Answer the question Joker, please." She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Joker gave her an odd and puzzled look, and then lowered his head. His beautiful 'mystery girl' wasn't thinking about what he just said, poor dear, "Harley?"

Her eyes looked at his, awaiting his response in anticipation and fear.

He gave her a toothy smile, "He made some threats against my, what do you call her, 'mystery girl'?" he watched her eyes brighten somewhat, "so…I taught him a lesson!"

"You mean you killed Jacob Neven because he made threats against 'mystery girl' and not because he made threats against me?" her mouth was slightly agape.

He let a moment of pause take a step before he spoke, "He made threats against you?" Joker looked down at the ground and laughed quietly in his mind, it was just too delicious. He looked back up at her quickly with wide eyes, "You mean that unpleasant man, the guy in the dining hall bleeding everywhere while I'm in here and missing it, was the same individual who made the rather crude remarks and threats against you?"

"Was yes." She cleared her throat in a relieved way, happy to know it wasn't her fault the man had become a victim and yet something else resided in her tone.

Joker smiled large and glimmered his fierce chomps at her, "Well, that's rather ironic."

"What were the threats he made against 'mystery girl'?" she typed vigorously into her laptop, catching every word he said.

"He said that he was going to shoot her in the temple while she slept, just like he did to his ex-wife." He tried to pull his arm out of the straight jacket but it was of no use, he hated these things.

Harley looked up from her typing, amazed that it had been the same exact threat Jacob had made to her, but then regained her composure and went back to her typing.

"But that wasn't the only reason why little Jacoby is no longer with us." He took a mental note of how damn fantastic her eyes looked when the light from her laptop shone against them, "Nope nope nope…"

"What would this other reason be Joker?"

He stuck his tongue out while his eyes rolled to the top of his sockets and then reluctantly pulled his tongue back in, "He was mixing his lemonade with my apple juice."

Harley violently cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. Joker instantly mimicked her aggressive actions with wide eyes and a straight smile.

"What?" Harley questioned with a laugh.

His eyes became wider and Harley couldn't help but smile at his copying antics. She watched at how his eyes blinked promptly, how his head tilted childishly to the side, and his smile just visible, just enough to let her know that he was playing around and not initiating any conflict. Somehow, the bleached white figure that sat before her, chained at the ankles and tied securely in a straight jacket was adorable to her.

Her laughing question pierced him in a way he could not describe without becoming infuriated over the subject. His throat constricted and his heart beat faster, his eyes becoming wider as this specimen, this angel like specimen, was toying so dangerously with his mind. The way that laugh came out, so incredibly desirable, so exceedingly enviable. He needed that laugh, he wanted that gorgeous laugh. He wanted to be able to have access to that laugh for the rest of his life, for eternity! Be able to hear that one of a kind laugh, just like his was, on tap. Anytime anywhere…

"He…mixed his lemonade with my apple juice." He let his smile grow.

Harley started laughing again, "What do you mean?"

His lip quivered as his smile grew even larger. How, in the name of humor, can this beautiful angel before him make his throat tighten, his heart race, and his eyes widen? She wasn't bleeding, she wasn't gasping for air, she wasn't dying. How the hell was she doing this? Why the hell was he just now realizing what the fuck was going on?! He was falling in love! Infatuation his ass…

Joker looked to the side with his eyes, "I want to go back to my room."

Her laughing quickly died, "Are you alright?" her voice completely concerned with his well-being.

"Quite, I just…oh never mind!" his foot tapped harshly against the floor, his smile completely gone.

"Are you sure?" she wiped at her eyes, "What's the matter Joker?"

He listened to her awe inspiring voice, that perfect delicious voice that he wanted to slurp up and keep with him forever. He bit down hard on his tongue, this wasn't part of the plan…things were not going right. Jacob was the one who did this, if he would have kept his unbearable simple lemonade to himself, and not interrupt his apple juice, things would have been still moving smoothly. He was sure of that.

"I believe that perhaps Harley," his tone was that of confidence and buoyancy, while his mind was screaming out of anger and failure, "I may be experiencing a bit more feeling toward 'mystery girl' than what I originally thought I had been graciously tolerated with."

"What type of feelings?" her blue eyes glistened perfectly.

Joker caught a glimpse of those eyes and instantly looked away. This beautiful and horrifying angel was grabbing his heart and pulling on it like it was an always winning slot machine, never letting up because it was a gold mind of emotions.

"More than infatuation I perceive."

She nodded, "That's perfectly normal, it's okay to have those feelings."

"No…no it is not!" he presented an intense and terrifying stare at Harley, "I'll kill her if it gets worse."

"Hey now…" she grinned, "just because you haven't exhibited these feelings before doesn't mean that you should instantly think 'kill her'." Harley smiled sweetly, "This is okay, this is a perfectly normal feeling to be having towards someone."

"I'm not normal!" he shouted loudly and became extremely animated as he tried to throw his arms up in the air, "Look at me! I shouldn't be having these feelings! I'll kill her!"

Harley sat in her seat with a calm expression over her face, "Calm down, it's going to be fine, just take a few breaths and relax."

"What?!" he stared at her with full force, "What the hell do you mean it's going to be fine?!"

"Relax." Harley looked at her laptop and then back to him, "Saying you're going to kill her, isn't going to help your feelings towards her. If anything, it would make it worse because you wouldn't be able to see her anymore. Understand?"

He finally relaxed in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her, "I love apple juice."

Harley closed her eyes and smiled at the somewhat random comment, covering her face once again with her hand, trying to hide the smile that crept up on her. She convulsed as tears of laughter began to slide out of her blue hues. Joker sat patiently waiting for her to stop. After a moment she finally collected herself.

"You love apple…" a small laugh escaped from her and then she stopped and cleared her throat, "You love apple juice?"

"Yes." His breathing was steady and slow, "And I do not like when others interfere with my apple juice. Harley you must realize it is not polite in the least to be mixing things up. You understand don't you? You understand that mixing things, changing things, is not well-mannered if you don't inform someone about it first?"

She bit her bottom lip still trying to hide her laughter, "What does apple juice really mean? I understand you aren't talking directly about apple juice anymore, I'm sorry for thinking that way prior to this."

He burst out in unexpected laughter and Harley watched as he bowed forward in his seat then reared back. Joker soon regained himself, "I can't tell you Harley, it's no fun to right out introduce the meaning of things to people." He smiled mischievously, "I like for folks to figure it out on their own, it's more fun that way." He looked down at the ground still smiling, "Now, it would be most civil for you to take me back to my cage, I'm reasonably finished if you are."

"Are you going to behave yourself?" she stood up and walked over to him.

Joker stood up from his chair, still tightly wound in his straight-jacket, the chains around his ankles connected so he couldn't run but only walk at a steady pace. He towered a good foot over the small doctor that stood so close in front of him, she wasn't scared, she wasn't worried, she was smiling…she was fucking _smiling_ at him.

"I'll behave myself." He looked down at her eyes very calmly and composedly, and then caught a scent of her sweet smelling aroma.

Joker turned around, eyes now wide and surprised as he walked to the door. He felt Harley wrap her arm around his captured body. Not just the little hand that rested in the small of his back, but her whole angel wing was now wrapped around his body as she opened the door for them. His purple eyes grew even wider if it were possible.

After a few minutes of walking down the hallway, they arrived in front of his room. Harley swiped her card and soon the immense door opened with the usual hiss. Joker walked inside and the door closed. Harley stood on the other side and smiled.

"I remember you telling me that you could never kill 'mystery girl'. You told me she was too much of an asset?"

Joker pressed his forehead against the glass, "That I did Harley, that I did."

Harley took a step closer to the door with her arms folded over one another in front of her chest, "You'll be fine Joker." She gave a quick smile and turned to walk away.

"Harley?" Joker called out.

She turned back around and waited for him to respond, a small grin in the left corner of her mouth, "Yes?"

"Come here."

She looked down the hallway and then walked back over to his room, "Everything okay?"

"Karma." His forehead still pressed against the glass.

She instantly shook her head slowly and laughed, once again she turned to leave but Joker stopped her.

"Wait Harley…will I be seeing you during drawing tomorrow?" he smiled darkly, "I'd love to see you while I work."

"One can come to the possible conclusion that I will…" with that said, she turned and left.


	13. That's Horrible

That's Horrible #13

Joker sat at his usual spot in the drawing session room. Still tightly constricted by the menacing straight jacket they had been prescribed so graciously to him. Pathetic maggots, they should have just left him in his cell, this was completely and wholly useless for them to have set him down with his beyond amazing drawing and yet he had no way of working on it. Honestly, the minds they say are sane are in fact bonkers themselves…

He stuck his tongue out and carefully watched the tip of it, causing his eyes to cross, as he tediously reached the end of his nose with it. Joker produced a quiet chuckle as he was interrupted from his small relieving caper from boredom.

"Enough of that." The art teacher ordered as he sat behind his desk, painfully reading an outdated newspaper.

Joker sucked his tongue back in and lifted his chin as he turned his head to the side, giving the instructor an unbelievably large smile, "Oh of course! Silly me and my childish acts. I really do let them get out of hand."

The instructor adjusted his paper as he hid himself behind it, not amused in the slightest at Jokers antics.

Joker closed one eye and spoke in a very clear and precise tone, "What color is the sky in your world?"

He crossed his leg over the other and kept to himself, not wanting to indulge himself in a conversation with the Clown Prince of Crime.

Joker waited for a brief moment. He looked out at the other inmates who were diligently working on random pieces of so called art, oblivious to the chatter he was inflicting with the balding instructor. "Well my sky is rather bleak, very dark and almost black. Almost though, that's very important." He looked at the teacher as he continued, "And sometimes, if I'm lucky, there will be little tiny purple specks…like glitter I suppose." He blinked in hopes of a response, sadly there was none.

Joker hummed for a minute and then noticed the instructor swivel slightly in his chair.

"Oh, is that one of those spinny chairs? I really love those things. I remember one time I spun on a swivel chair for over an hour! I blew chunks like…"

"Enough, quiet." The instructor's low voice casted over Jokers, a straight and lonely accent that angered Joker to a tee.

"Well, that was ostensibly rude. I didn't interrupt you did I?" he tapped his foot on the ground and then playfully pulled his feet out from under the table and placed them on top of the table instead. He now lay his back on the bench, his head turned toward the boring teacher, "You know, whatever's eating you…they must be suffering horribly."

The instructor looked from behind his paper at Joker, "Sit back down, please."

Joker retaliated, "Is it your wife?" he kept in his playful position, wiggling his toes freely in the air.

"Excuse me?" the instructor set down his paper and gave Joker an odd and seemingly blank wide eyed stare.

"Don't be alarmed." He smiled and closed his eyes, "You know, your wife? The one in the hospital, with the leukemia?" Jokers smile grew ten fold as he watched the simple man create a complex look of fear.

"You, you can't possibly know that…" his voice cracked under its tension.

Joker laughed tauntingly low, "Oh yes Marky boy, I know a lot about you and your happily dying family. Like right now, your son is playing baseball for his high school team! Go Stephen go!" he shook his head from side to side in triumph as he cheered on Marks son.

Mark stood from his seat, "How did you…please don't hurt my family. I'll do anything, anything at all, please."

"Anything?" Joker's eyes wandered to the ceiling, the corners of his lips inching scarily closer to his ears.

Mark walked around his desk, "Yes anything!" he shook his fists in front of his chest, careful not to speak too loud and cause a stir in the room.

"Anything says you? Hmm…" Joker tapped his toes on the table for a moment and then he turned back to the shaking Mark, "I want to sit in your swivel chair."

Marks brows creased into one, "That's it?" he cocked his head just a tad, "That's all you want is to sit in my chair?"

"That's it!" he smiled cheerfully, "It's a really nice looking chair, looks like it can really get a good spin going too!"

Mark blinked rapidly for a few seconds, "Uh, sure. Go ahead." He motioned his hand at the empty chair and watched Joker excitedly jump from his bench and walk to the vacant seat.

"Ah," he wiggled in the seat, "this _is _a nice chair." Joker tested the spinning capabilities by turning the chair with his feet from side to side, "Oh yes, quite nice." He looked up at Mark and smiled happily, "Now you run along and teach or instruct these useless…objects in here. M'kay? Wouldn't want someone to accidently give your humble little wife the wrong dosage would we?" he laughed quietly as he watched Mark quickly scurry off to help with the other patients.

Joker closed his eyes and turned his head up toward the ceiling and started to spin. He pulled his legs up to his chest and smiled at the fun he was finally having. Once the spinning died, he would quickly throw his legs back down to the floor and push against it to spin again and again.

During his happy spinning, he pondered at the thought of where his angel like doctor may be. She had said that she was going to show up, damn her and making him want to see her. This little 'mystery girl' thing was getting positively out of hand.

He thought about the day before, about how grand she was, and at the same time incredibly vile. She made his throat constrict, his eyes widen, his heart beat faster. This was not acceptable, he was the more ultimate, and he should be respected as this official title. Harley was treating him unfairly…

Her perfectly orchestrated voice would cause his throat to tighten. The way it would peak into harmonious grander, and then drop to a seductively exceptional and impressive low, the way it would create the ultimate and blissful laugh. A laugh that he needed, a laugh that he wanted to hold to his mouth and drink, that laugh that she created like a simple music note was…breathtaking. Completely and understandably breathtaking.

And then her overly creative aroma, it was so sweet, and yet so dangerously addictive. His eyes would widen with the horizon line, stretching across the vast canvas that he was to work with. Her pleasant scent would waft into his breathing space, and he would only catch a mere flavor of the incredible delight of her full smell. And if he were to catch that full and complete aroma…that would be reasonably dangerous.

For some reason, his heart would beat faster. Start out slow and then casually strengthen and beat faster and more powerful, rousing him into undeniable infatuation with her glistening aura. She was everything he _needed_, she was everything he _wanted_.

How though, how was she doing this? Like he had thought before, she had no fantastically created patterns of blood oozing out of her, she wasn't begging for her life or for satisfactory mercy, she wasn't even dying. That's when he knew, he knew Harley, his perfectly created and angel like 'mystery girl' with the seductive voice and the flawless lips and the perfect hips and the righteous mind and playful charisma, had the ultimate potential. The ultimate potential to aid him.

He thought long and hard about it. Racking his powerful mind to the bone until he had finally understood what was going on. This wasn't really love, this was his mind telling him how perfect she would be as an ally out in the field. If she could do this to him, take away his complicated philosophy of certain subjects and present an alternate viewpoint that made him, The Joker…want her, just think of the limitless possibilities she would endure onto the unmindful citizens of Gotham, the careless fellow villains... She could be dangerous, she could be perilous, oh yes she would be very hazardous with him by her side.

His little 'scare' of falling in love just wasn't true. It had been a mere adrenaline rush of emotions that resulted from the killing of that minor bastard who had made terrible threats against his perfect angel. It was just Jacoby and his common lemonade who had wanted to impose on his apple juice. It was just a bit of confusion his mind was boiling over from, just a simple bit of confusion from the side step he had to take, no love, no desire, just infatuation.

His spinning stopped abruptly and he casually opened his eyes and looked at the master mind to the committed crime. A beautiful sparkling angel with the brightest smile in all the land stood before him, her hands gripping the arms of the chair, looking face to face to with him.

"Having fun?" Harley raised a brow with a slight grin forming.

Joker smiled a non-toothy smile and nodded one time slowly, "Mmhmm."

Harley motioned for him to stand up and he did respectively, "Why are you not working on your art?" she looked over her shoulder as she walked over to the seat he usually sat at.

"Well, as you can plainly see Harley, I'm a bit tied up."

Harley watched him take a seat on the bench, and she likewise took hers as well, "Why the hell didn't they take your jacket off." She placed her hand on his upper back and pushed lightly on it, indicating for him to lean forward, "Really, if they're afraid that you may hurt someone again, they should better prepare their weapons. It's their faults that you killed Jacob, if their tasers had been correctly managed none of that would have happened."

Joker narrowed his eyes at her splendid remarks of defending him. Then a large and menacing smile appeared, his plan was working brilliantly well. He was back on the right path. Cur had done an exceptional job at tampering with the tasers, yes he had, he figured he would give him a treat of some sort for that.

Harley pulled out a key from her pocket, "You'll behave right?" her thumb tapped his spine in a kind manner.

"Of course. No one in this room has made any pathetic threats against someone I have an infatuation for." He listened to the quiet click of the padlock unlocking and felt the gentle fingers of Harley untie the belts around him. Harley patted his back when she was finished, and he sighed happily as he freed himself from the restraints that had increasingly bored him, "Thank you Harley." He gave her a cheerful smile.

"No problem." She smiled back and looked down at the picture he had been working on, "Go ahead, it looks like you're almost finished."

Joker grabbed the chained down pencil and magically started to sketch and draw the remaining portion of his masterpiece, "Almost, just a few more minor details to put in."

Harley smiled genuinely at the picture and then to him. She watched how his brow would scrunch when he concentrated more on the tedious parts. How his eyes darted quickly across the paper, how his slight smile wrinkles would vanish when he would lick his bottom lip, how he would smile when he was satisfied with the part he was working on, she presently watched his every move.

"I want to draw a picture I think." She patted her hand on the table still looking at the clown to her side.

Joker looked up and at her, "I think that's a splendid idea." He looked over at Mark who had been looking at him, "Dr. Quinzel would like to draw." He lifted a brow and looked at the pile of paper in the middle of the room, "Do you mind if you bring a piece of paper over for her?"

"No, not at all." Mark soon grabbed the paper and carefully placed it in front of Harley, "Here you are Doctor." Before walking away he gave a quick look at Joker, a fearful look that Joker chewed on.

Harley grabbed a pencil that was also chained to the desk, "What should I draw?"

"Whatever comes to mind." He stated as he continued to add finishing details on his work.

Harley shrugged and began to draw, "So what else have you drawn? Anything besides people?" her eyes glanced over to him and then back to her picture.

"I draw whatever comes into my mind, and holds my attention." His eyes darted across the room suddenly and then towards Harley.

"Like?"

"I have an inner process of creation you could say." He paused for a moment and then continued, "My mind creates image and form," he stopped and looked at Harley, "and my hand obeys." He watched Harley give a quiet look at him, "Sometimes just a black haze, other times cute little kittens."

"Kittens?" she giggled, "You've drawn cute little kittens?"

"Cute little kittens with missing limbs and bombs in their bellies if you must know the gruesome details that I hold so dear to my heart." Harley let out a quiet laugh as she drew and Joker gave her a swift glance, "And they say I'm psychotic."

"What?" she concealed her laugh a little more.

"You laughed at the thought of an innocent kitten with missing legs and a bomb in its gut. That's pretty wrong Harley." His eyes widened as he finalized with himself that his piece was done with the drawing portion.

Harley looked over at his work, "Everyone has a small amount of sadistic humor in them. Some more so than others?" she gave Joker a playful stare, "Are you finished?"

"One last thing I need to do before it's completely finished, but almost." he slid it over to Harley for her to better see, "What do you think?"

She bit her bottom lip and then smiled as she handed her finished drawing over to him, "I'll critique yours if you critique mine."

He grabbed the drawing and looked it over, "This is…"

Harley interrupted him, "What else could this masterpiece need Joker? It looks perfect…"

"That's rather kind of you Harley." He smiled at her and then shook her drawing in front of her, "But what the hell is this supposed to be?" he created a disgusted look, "That's horrible."

She brought her thumb to her mouth and lightly chewed on the nail, "What do you think it's supposed to be?"

He pushed the picture out in front of him and turned it at all different angles, narrowing one eye and then the other to see if he could better depict what he was looking at, "I'm going to have to go with…rabbit on a stick or something to that effect, honestly Harley what is this catastrophe you threw on here?"

Harley smiled, "Well, how do you really feel?" she snatched it out of his hand and looked at it, "It was supposed to be a dog."

"You don't want to know how I really feel, does that drawing make you happy?" he turned around and grabbed a jar of black paint that sat on the counter behind him.

"No, not at all." She watched as he opened the jar and poured the paint into his hand, "What are you doing?"

He ignored her and slid his paper back over to him with his free hand. Then after examining the picture one final time, he slammed his paint filled hand down against the drawing and smeared the black paint from the head to the bending knees of the character in one swift motion, "Now, it's finished."

Harley gasped, "Why did you do that?"

Joker wiped the paint from his hand on the straight jacket that he still wore, but untied, "Obeying my mind."

"But it was so great, now it's…" she stopped and looked closer at the painting.

He smiled, "It's what my mind dreamed of Harley. I saw this beautiful woman, this beautiful and fantastic angel. She was young and vibrant, energetic and happy, but then something came along. Something daring and challenging, risking her to cross the brink and into its untamed hands. The angel avoids its unseen intentions for a while, until the darkness sweeps over her, engulfing her. This blackness, this smear of black paint, is a cloud of mediation on death and inhumanity."

Harley leaned over and concentrated on the painting, noticing that the drying paint was light enough to still see the gorgeous angel that had been engulfed by the powerful cloud. She spoke softly and low to Joker, "It's…beautiful."


	14. Damn Her!

Damn Her! #14

Joker looked out of the corner of his eye at the angel next to him. He watched how Harley so intently stared at the masterpiece that sat in front of them.

He looked secretly at her, smiling oh so madly, oh so deliciously at the response he was receiving. Every little facial feature she was exhibiting, every single one, was indicating to him that Harley was beginning to fall. She was beginning to fall into a sudden rage of chaotic matter, bursting and boiling into the most _real_ life she would ever endure. She was crawling lusciously into his hands, his beautiful and conniving hands, and she had no damn clue.

He noted her straight but inquiring brow. She pondered about the piece, suggesting a lively movement of eagerness, wanting to know more about the mysterious black cloud that engulfed the beautiful angel beneath it. Joker also saw a wonderful inquisitiveness of understanding. Yes she had the ability to perceive and explain the meaning of this fantastic representation, yet his little Harley didn't know the _true_, yes the true meaning of what his dream represented. He would make sure that in time she would.

Then those placid eyes, the very exact bright baby blues that made his shoulders slump down in relaxation whenever he was given the chance to gander at them, were booming with bubbling and fizzing splendor. The condition of her magnificent and impressive blues, although appearing calm and docile, were rather unknown…strange and full of mystery. It was difficult to understand what could possibly be within this odd stare, something was hiding, something that he himself could not decipher…at the splendid moment anyways. But all the same, something horribly magnificent receded back in that seductively brilliant stare. For some unknown reason it was frightened to show itself to it's superior, he would make sure to snap it out of her so that he could dance around in the mystifying trance as well, it was only right after all.

Ah, and the partly opened mouth, and just a little, almost invisible tiny lift resided in the right corner of her sizzling lips, yes that was good…_very_ good. She was amazed at how exquisite this piece before her was, this simple piece of paper with pencil and paint marks strewn about it was a cause for utmost celebration to her growing mind. She could tell it meant something truly valuable, truly priceless in terms of knowledge. Harley was understanding, not much, but she was trying to reach out and grasp it. And although she was very far away from coming in contact with that item that was so exceedingly far from her, _she was aiming correctly_. That made his maddening smile grow even more.

His secretive glare came across a gently formed fist. It had been pressed carefully against her chest and he couldn't help but curl his toes at the incredible reaction she was showing to him. She was feeling her heart beat, this he was entirely sure of. That gradual and rising beat in her chest was the response of coming to gain the knowledge of who this blackened angel could really be. Oh dear him, that was just too, just too damn perfect!

Her head was tilted vaguely to the side and he just wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, just crow like the mad man he was and laugh until everyone in the room pawed at their ears in mercy. His mystery girl was trying to gain a better angle, trying desperately to perchance see beneath the hands that covered the figures face in the picture.

He had made sure to only reveal the smile to the viewers, and hide the rest of the angel's face beneath her perfectly created hands, that was an important, oh very very very important detail he was sure to include. In his dream, that angel was hiding from the cloud of black, shunning away in fear from the darkened aura that presented itself to her. But why then…why was she smiling?

Joker knew why…

And he relished in the tantalizing thought…danced and pranced and laughed…oh you better believe he laughed, long and hard and loud! Behind the tightly closed doors of his whirling and shrieking blackness of a mind that is.

Then he noticed one last detail, a tiny almost forgotten detail that his sweet angel Harley had given him. Coming from her slightly agape mouth was slow and very careful breaths. _She wanted this beautifully created angel to be her…just maybe…maybe_.

Harley flung her hands face down onto the top of the table, "My God this is just, just so great! You should give it a title, a name or something."

"Why?" he turned his head slowly towards her, "Why give my dream a name? This," he motioned his hand at the painting, "does not need a name. It shall forever be placed into the meaningless minds of those who come across it, and they will call it whatever they want, good _or_ bad. I couldn't care less if they called it a masterpiece, nor would I care if they called it an eye burning experience. I couldn't care, and I don't care." He looked at the drawing and placed his palm on top of it, "What I do care about however, is the message it presents." He chuckled low and casted an eerie smile on his face, "Not like any of these worthless and unworthy souls will even understand the complexity of this dream…even if I so kindly tried to explain it to them through the most simple of gestures, they would ultimately, in the end, not…get it!"

He slammed his fist down against the piece of art, and simultaneously shrieks of fear were heard within the enclosed space of the room. Joker smiled and relaxed his fist into a more somber shrug. He looked up at the inmates and spoke more to himself than to anyone else.

"Simple minds. Simple minds. Located within a complex world of such _useless_ emotions, fear. Such an unnecessary feeling, you would live _longer_ without it...trust me…"

"Hey." Harley stood up and pressed her hand on Joker's back with intense care, "How about we talk in my office? Would you mind?" Joker turned toward her, the whites of his eyes now red from the irritation that he was being presented with. She smiled very sweetly at him and then grabbed the picture, "Or, how about this?" she motioned for him to stand up and he did so, patiently waiting through heavy breaths of the other option she was about to offer him, "We can put this up in your room if you'd like."

Jokers arms hung by his sides, the sleeves of the straight jacket hanging to the mid of his thighs. He swallowed and sighed with a small smile, "Of course, yes I'd appreciate that." She was so terribly kind, so sweet. She made him relax for a moment, made him go all soft in front of his audience…damn her!

They arrived at his room a few minutes later, and Harley held the picture up to the side wall of the enclosure, "How about here?" she asked with almost too much enthusiasm.

Joker stood by her side and nodded, "Sure."

It upset him. It really did upset him, that this creature by his side was so unafraid of him. There she stood, not five inches away from his side, hanging a picture on the wall of his cage, not an ounce of fear in her voice. But all the same, it intrigued him as well.

"Here," she handed Joker a piece of tape that she took from the drawing room, "you put it up, you're taller."

He took hold of the picture and looked it over before pressing it against the wall and placing the piece of tape on one of the corners, "How tall are you Harley?"

She smiled and sheepishly giggled, "Five four and a half."

"And a half?" he looked down at her and received another piece of tape, laughing in his throat all the while.

"Yes and a half! I'd be mortified if I lost it…" she laughed as well and then looked him over, "How tall are you, six five? I think that's what it said in your charts, which now are binders I might add."

Joker laughed and taped up the last edges of the drawing and then looked at Harley, "Last time they took my pretty picture here, I was."

Harley crossed her arms and nodded her head approvingly at the drawing, "How tall were your parents?"

That was a touchy subject. He knew she knew it, but he liked her conniving way of slipping it in. Potential, he had called it just earlier.

"I don't know to be entirely truthful with you." He shuffled his feet over to his cot, never looking up from the dust cluttered ground, and then sat, "It's hard to remember my past." A small toothy smile appeared, his glance still on the dusty ground below him.

Harley faced him, arms still crossed, a sincere grin on her face, all too eager to learn more about his mysterious past, "What do you remember about your parents?"

He rolled the sleeves of his straight jacket up to his biceps, and then casually folded his hands together between his knees. He always hated when the docs pestered him about his parents, but he decided to play along this time.

Joker looked at Harley through his lashes, his small smile still present, and then tilted his head and looked back down to the ground, "Not much. I do remember though, that I hated them."

"You don't remember why?" Harley stepped closer to him, about three feet away from his grinning beam.

"Not really. I don't remember why I hate them, but I get these images, remembrances of events we had together." He sighed through his noise, "And well, none of them were dreadfully happy." He smiled maliciously on his ending word.

Harley took a seat next to him, "Would you like to talk about one?"

Joker licked his bottom lip, images darting rapidly through his mind, "I remember this one time, I was young, maybe seven? Maybe eleven? I don't know…but I come home early from school, you see it was a short day and I had forgotten to tell my parents about it. So, merrily along I come, entering my humble abode, throwing down my book bag against the wall." He mimicked his previous actions with his hands, tossing them to the side as if he were throwing the bag again.

"I go to the kitchen to grab me some bread, it must have been bread because that's all I ever remember eating. I hear footsteps behind me and I turn around to greet which ever parent it was, turns out to be good ol' dad!" he swung his fist in front of him, "And then he hits me…" Joker smiled and patted the top of his thighs before looking over at Harley, "I don't know why, but he pummels me. Just keeps going, doesn't stop, just keeps going. My face," he kept his face toward Harley but allowed his eyes to travel to the floor as he recalled the event, "is _so_ sore." Joker narrowed his eyes, "My eyes are swollen, my nose hurts, and I just keep wondering why…"

"What happened after? Do you remember anything past that?"

"Yea…" Joker looked back at her with his eyes and smiled, "I remember wanting to go play with the bag of marbles I kept in my closet."

Harley grabbed her chin and rubbed it lightly, "Why did you want to play with them?"

"Well because their fun!" he tossed a hand into the air, "Why else would I want to play with them?"

She smiled and nodded, "Who gave them to you, do you remember that?"

Joker shook his head, "No. But I do remember I had a favorite one. It was red with black swirls in it." He smiled childishly.

"Why was it your favorite?"

"I have no idea honestly. Just always remembered that it was." He looked up to the picture on the wall, and casually stood from his spot, "I lost it, not just that marble, but the whole bag."

Harley watched him walk over to the drawing, "When?"

Joker laughed and then turned to face her, "I'm still trying to figure that one out." He smiled, no teeth showing, and then faced the picture and tapped his finger on it, "So, does it ring any bells?"

"The picture?" Harley stood up and walked over to him, staring at the drawing with a transfixed glare, "I can't be sure, because her face is covered." Harley glanced up at Joker, "Was her face always covered in your dream?"

"Yes." He ran his finger along the curve of the paintings smile, "How about the smile? Does that plug in any circuits?"

She smiled, "It looks so familiar, but, I can't be certain. I have no idea who this could be, maybe no one I know. Maybe I just want to know who it is so bad, that I think it looks familiar." She laughed.

Joker looked hard at the smile he drew and then down at Harley's. They were identical down to the last crease. She didn't know what she looked like when she smiled, she didn't smile enough…

Damn her…


	15. Make Me Feel Frivolous

Make Me Feel Frivolous #15

"Enough already!" Joker shook his fists above his head at the blistering sound of Mr. Beep, "I've been listening to you blab on an on for five minutes, shut up!"

He had been awaken by the annoying sound of the Arkham alarm system and now he edgily sat upright on his cot, his back against the wall and knees pulled to his chest. A small frown was present on his face instead of his ecstatic happy grin that usually resided there, his eyes travelled to the speaker in the corner of the room, giving it the 'evil' eye.

Joker, as he stared a deathly glare at Mr. Beep, reflected on his encounter with Harley the day before. Hoping that his strong thoughts could possibly muster out the noisy system they had hooked up to Arkham.

The first thought that popped into his mind was the dreaded fact that the beautiful Harley Quinzel was not familiar enough with her own damned smile. How could that be? How could one not accompany them self in the delirious image of ones smile?

Absolutely puzzling…

Beyond that fact, it was positively heart wrenching! How could you not know what your own smile looked like? Did she not appreciate her unique and unfound beauty? Did she live in life as if it were an unconscious blur? Did she not appreciate the divineness of her whole? Of what her smile presented? Represented?!

What did her smile represent for that matter? Rather, about what it should represent, personality, your standing, your philosophy on the life you hold so dear to you, you! It represented who you were, and right now Harley was presenting herself, well…not very well. Sure she had a great smile, a profoundly developed beautiful and swiftly unique glowing aura of pure blissfulness that protruded from her angel like face smile…but now he realized that she wasn't smiling truthfully. At least when she wasn't around him, he could have sworn that her smile was genuine around him…yes he was positive it had been, he knew his smiles of course.

Then, _what did that mean_? Oh _yes_…

Joker was brought back to reality around him, so called reality, and was once again tortured with the obliviously loud Mr. Beep, "I swear it!" he boldly stood from his cot, stomped one foot hard against the floor, puffed his chest out, and then held his chin up at the speaker, "I'll cut your wires! Then we'll see who gets in the last word!"

The room was silent for a moment as Joker fumed, still staring at the speaker with muscles tensed and posture lean. Then Mr. Beep bellowed out another alarming sound and Joker growled dangerously at. He quickly tore of his Arkham top and wildly mashed it into a ball, and then with hasty aim he threw it at Mr. Beep, "I said shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Enough Joker, it's obviously not going to help if you scream at it." Scarecrow, who resided in the room across from Jokers, spoke low and nonchalantly.

"I don't need your boldness!" Joker walked up to his cell door and pressed his forehead and hands against it. He took a deep breath, noticing that the speaker had not gone off again at its suspected time, "Besides, taking directions from clothed haystacks is not entirely healthy."

Scarecrow appeared in front of his door now, hands folded behind his back, "What happened to your stomach?" he pointed at Jokers stomach and then looked up at Joker with a need to know more.

Joker looked down at the large gash, "Oh this?" he smiled and glanced back up at Scarecrow, "A present from Batsy of course! He gets me little things here and there, I suppose he wanted to make up for the last time we had a fight…he's really rather impressive in the relationship we have going." Joker chuckled and then ran a finger over the still tender and fleshy cut.

Scarecrow cleared his throat, "I suppose."

"Oh don't be sad Jonathon, Batman and I have a special relationship, maybe in time he'll get you a gift half as good as mine." he tilted his head to the side and waited for Scarecrows next comment.

"Oh, I look forward to it." He smugly stated as he turned around and pressed his back against the door.

Joker puffed up his cheeks and narrowed his eyes, "Something bothering you friend?"

"Please, I hardly consider you a friend." Scarecrow chuckled, "You're no friend of mine that's for certain."

Joker pressed a hand against his chest and created a look of utmost shock on his face, "Oh Johnny! I'm hurt! Really now, all the good times we've had together and you have the daring comment of saying you don't consider me a friend?"

Scarecrow turned around, "No, I do not consider you a friend in any way."

"Well!" Joker took a step back and stuck his nose up in the air, "I'll consider hitting you with a chair again." He managed to see Scarecrow cower down in his spot.

Images of the way Joker had beaten him with the chair long ago plummeted into his mind, and so Scarecrow quietly walked back into the shadows of his room.

Joker grinned madly and added one last comment before ending his conversation with Scarecrow, "I do think that today is Saturday correct? That means I'll see you in the common room! Oh goodie, they have lots of chairs in there…" he heard something drop abruptly in Scarecrows room, and Joker couldn't help but let out a shrieking fit of laughter.

Harley appeared quite suddenly in front of his room, and she watched him laugh for almost a minute straight. Seeming to never need a breath of air to continue with his frightful chuckle, he continued on and on for a large amount of time. He hadn't noticed that she was standing there as he keeled over holding his gut and slapping his knee until he opened an eye and glanced back out to the hallway.

"Oh, Harley!" he wiped his eye and smiled cheerfully, "What brings you here?" She was silent for a brief moment and Joker noticed her looking over his bare stomach where the immense cut resided, "Dr. Quinzel?" he asked in a low tone with a cunning smile.

She looked up at him, "What happened to your stomach?"

"Oh, you know, I get roughed around a little bit in here. Nothing to worry about! Now, why are you here so early in the morning doc?"

"You mean to tell me that someone in Arkham did that to you?" Harley slid her access card through the meter and took a rapid step inside to examine his cut stomach.

Joker licked the corner of his mouth, "Yes, poor little Joker gets pushed around. But like I said," he threw a hand up in the air, excusing the supposed Arkham civilians of their supposed beatings, "nothing to worry about!"

Harley kneeled before him and touched a finger to the cut, "It's infected, why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" she looked up at him with bright baby blue concerned eyes.

Joker swallowed hard. Did she look seductively good from this tantalizing angle, or what say you? "I'm not one to tell on others Harley."

Scarecrow made a loud airy noise as if to mock Jokers last comment. Thankfully Harley didn't seem affected by it. Even so Joker would definitely hit him with another chair during the common room hours. He salivated from the thought of Scarecrows head covered in a mass of swirling reds and blacks.

"Come on, we'll go and get your cut cleaned alright?" she began to walk to the door but stopped and turned to him, "Where is your shirt?"

He shrugged as Harley turned back to the door and then kicked the Arkham shirt underneath the cot, "They didn't give me one last night."

"Are you serious?" Harley seemed baffled by the statement, "They really didn't give you a shirt? How childish can they get?" she shook her head and they began to walk down the halls to the medical room.

"Oh it wasn't all that bad, it was actually quite comfortable to sleep without a shirt. It got a bit chilly after a while, but none the less it was nice for a change."

They appeared in front of the medical room and Harley smiled up at him, "You've been so good throughout the staff's unneeded play, that's very well mannered of you."

"I'm just that kind of guy…" he smiled and entered the room, noticing how comical he felt today.

Harley walked up to the main counter in the large room, "Hey Linda, I need to get his wound cleaned up." She pointed back to Joker, "It's infected and he'll need some antibiotics too."

Linda nodded and then started typing information onto the computer in front of her, "Dr. Taslow is busy at the moment with another patient, he should be done in a few minutes. Go ahead and take a seat while you wait alright?"

"Sure," she motioned to an empty seat for Joker to sit down at and he did so willingly, "do you happen to have any uniform shirts for him to wear, he didn't get one before he went to sleep last night."

"He didn't get a shirt?" she created a puzzled look but shrugged, "Let me look to see if we have anything in the back room, did you go to the dressing rooms?"

"I'm not permitted to go into the dressing rooms, well at least the men's anyways." Harley tapped her fingers on the counter and turned around to see Joker flipping through the pages of an upside down magazine, "Your magazine is upside down Joker."

Joker peaked over the upper edge of the book, "Is it?" he flipped it right side up and then to his amazement found that she had been correct, "Ah!"

Harley giggled and then turned back to see Linda with a folded shirt in her hands, "It has buttons on it, but I don't really think that even The Joker can cause harm with buttons, do you?" Linda looked curiously at Harley.

She shrugged, "Well, if he can, that would be pretty amazing huh?" she laughed but reassured her friend, "I'm sure he can't possibly cause any damage with a few a buttons. And I don't think he would want to ruin this shirt anyways…"

Joker smiled behind the pages and giggled as he listened to their conversation. Yes he was feeling quite happy today, very joyous to say the least.

Harley walked over to Joker, "Here, you can wear this until we get you an appropriate shirt alright?"

Joker grabbed it, "It's purple…" he looked up at Harley and smiled like a school boy, "I think this whole thing was set up that way you could make me happy…" he looked down at the shirt in his hands.

"Oh of course." She rolled her eyes with a grin, "I told some guards to not give you a shirt, that way I would notice your cut, that way I could take you down to the medical room, that way I could get you this purple shirt."

He slipped into his new clothing, "A guy can dream can't he?"

"You very well can." She smiled and sat down in the empty seat next to him.

"So why did you come by my cage this morning? You still haven't answered me." He continued to flip through his newly acquired magazine.

"Oh, that, well your ritual officer has been suspended until further notice." She crossed a leg over the other and looked at what Joker had been reading.

"You don't say? What'd the man do?" he flipped a page and instantly giggled at the absurdness of the article.

She leaned closer to him to view the pages, "Video surveillance caught him in the armory room tapering with the tasers."

Joker turned an inquisitive look towards Harley, "Honestly? How odd…who do you think told him to do it?"

"We aren't positive. But I shouldn't be discussing it with you anyways, you understand."

He nodded and turned the page, "But of course!" he changed the conversation to a new piece, "You know I was never very fond of this doctor, can't you just go in and grab some meds for me? Besides I'm really hungry and would like to enjoy my sloppy breakfast."

"No I'm not permitted to just barge into the medical cabinets unless they okay my prescription papers. So I tell you what, if Dr. Taslow tells me you were kind and considerate while he administers medicine to your wound, then I'll take you back to my office and we will enjoy a happier meal than what they give you here. Sound good?"

Joker scratched his neck, "Yes." He closed the magazine and turned to Harley, "Speaking of meds, I'm not so big on the ones I'm getting right now, they make everything look fuzzy and distorted. I mean sure it's rather fun, but after a while my nose starts to hurt after I've bumped into everything, depth perception seems to be somewhat lost when they give me those bright pink tablets!"

"I was meaning to get you changed onto a different medication anyways. We'll start them on you tomorrow."

Joker unbuttoned the shirt, it was somewhat tight, "Do they cause hallucinations?"

She tilted her head to the side, "It's possible, more likely in higher doses which you need."

"Sounds like fun if you ask me!" he tapped his feet against the ground, "I always like it when Batman comes out of no where! I always freak out a bit, it's funny to watch on camera…" Joker twiddled his thumbs together and listened to Harley laugh quietly.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh."

He turned to her and smiled, "It's okay to laugh. I laugh after it's over with, sometimes even during my hallucination episodes, they're funny!" he chuckled as he remembered a few of them, "Like my last one, I was on a new drug right? So they put me in my cage and tell me to just relax as the medication takes its course. I was in no mood for protest, this med was powerful and I was already drifting into la la land. So I sit down on the bed and close my eyes for a little bit, I hear something so I open them back up and I yell out for no real reason 'Hand me the jumper cables, the chickens have escaped!' and subsequently I look at the ground and chickens are running around. Now I knew they weren't really there but all the same it was hilarious…"

Harley laughed and then shook her head as Linda stood up and spoke, "Dr. Taslow is ready for him."

Joker stood up with Harley and made his way to the room, "Will you come with me? I really do believe that even if I behave myself Dr. Taslow will say I didn't…"

"I'm not allowed to Joker." They stopped in front of the closed room, "Because I'm a girl I can't go in there."

He stood tall and lean, "Phooey, I wouldn't allow Dr. Taslow to touch a mere a hair on your head! Why, if I found out that he did something as preposterous as that, I'd…" he looked down at Harley and she looked away, "Oh, I see. It's not him they're afraid of." He lowered his posture, "You don't think that I would ever do something as low as that would you?" Jokers question was of complete seriousness.

Harley remained quiet as she looked back up to meet with Jokers eyes. Joker sighed and reached for the handle of the door.

"I don't know, would you?"

Joker stopped his reaching for the handle and he finally felt the sting in his cut. He looked at Harley with a hurt look at first but then quickly changed it into a more calm gesture, "If you believe that I could do something that vile…something that degrading? If you have to question it, you even have to second guess yourself in your already made decision? Then I don't know how to answer it." He turned back to the door but felt a gentle hand on his back.

"I don't think that you would. But others disagree. You have no records, none at all, that resort to you overpowering a woman, or man, with the urge of rape. And why would you have to do that anyways? You consider yourself very powerful, I know that much, and people who rape most likely do what they do to get a gratifying feel of power over someone because they feel weak." She dropped her hand back down to her side, "I don't think that you would _ever_ force yourself over someone in that regard. I'll be in the front room when you're finished."

Harley walked down the hall but Joker called out to her and she stopped, "But you think that if I did feel weak, that I would do that?" he tilted his head to the side, slight anger in his voice, but hurt overpowered it.

She turned and smiled genuinely at him, and he kindly and thankfully smiled back, "No I don't think that you would." Her eyes traveled down the hall and her smile disappeared after a moment as she lifted her fingertips to her bottom lip. Harley's eyes sped back to Jokers and then to the floor, where upon she turned and left to go back to the front room.

Joker was baffled by the sudden movement, "Harley?" he then looked down the hall, at where she had been glancing at, and after a long moment of pondering, he smiled so devilishly it made him feel frivolous.

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to my mom for reasons we both know of...and not many others...I love you mom...hopefully you decide to read this story one day..._


	16. Thank You

Thank You #16

Oh the way she looked. Her pretty tantalizing lips, the corner of those soft folds rising upwards as her fizzing blue depths glared magnificently at their master, had given him the ultimate pleasure of satisfaction.

So what if he had been deceitfully lying to her, so what? In the end, because he was able to take pleasure in and skip about merrily in the image she had given him, it was well worth it, well worth all of the minor lies. And they _had_ only been minor hadn't they?

Besides, there wasn't much of a consequence if Harley just so happened to find out that he _did_ receive a shirt the night before, that _Batman_ gave him the gash on his stomach, that his dear old daddy possibly _didn't _hit him, although he was entirely sure he had…he couldn't be positive. All of those confusing images bombarding his mind at once…who knew who had been hitting him…

What was she going to do? Smack him on the hand? Give him a deathly 'No!' and shake her dazzling digit at him? No, she wouldn't dare, not his Harley, no sir.

And if she happened to feel the need to scold to him, he would carefully twist his words around, and make beautiful Harley feel for him again, quite simple really. He had already done it once or twice anyways…poor oblivious Jacoby.

Wasn't that spectacular?! He killed a man, and Harley didn't seem fazed in the least, why in fact, she seemed comforted. You can thank Uncle Joker for that, yes you can.

And he hadn't even lied about that part, Jacob did make threats against his 'mystery girl', he just didn't say who his 'mystery girl' was. So there.

Joker smiled at Dr. Taslow as he spread a gooey mesh of medicine onto his cut, "That feels wonderful doctor! Thank you so much for your kind patronage, I truly do appreciate it."

Dr. Taslow rolled his eyes and set the tube of medicine onto the counter beside him. He then looked back to the cut, deciding which antibiotic he was going to prescribe to Joker as he reached into his coat pocket to pull out a small pad of paper. Dr. Taslow then retrieved a pen and started to scribble onto the sheet, "You're done, I'll escort you back out to Dr. Quinzel."

"Aw, don't trust me doc?" Joker slanted his head to the side and swung his legs as he smiled mesmerizingly to the doctor.

Dr. Taslow motioned for Joker to stand up, "No I don't," and then went to the door with Joker at his heels.

Why was he lying to Harley? Why the hell not? It was working to his advantage most definitely and he liked the fact that Harley was indisputably feeling sympathetic towards him, he liked it a lot. Why would he not like the fact that whenever he would provide a white lie to her mind she would come back with an ever so tender complement such as 'you've been awfully good through the staff members playing' that was great, that was vast, that was grand! He even got a purple shirt out of it, with buttons no less, _and_ it was silky too.

Joker ran his hand across the front of the shirt he had been given, feeling the smooth coldness of it on his finger tips, "Was I good?" he asked Dr. Taslow with a pondering brow.

"Surprisingly, which is the first time you have ever cooperated with me," he continued to walk as Joker slowed his pace and looked over his shoulder at the item Harley had glanced at before he himself entered the examination room.

He smiled brightly at the mirror located at the end of the hall, and then Joker turned back around and caught up with Dr. Taslow, "Do you like smiles doc?"

The two turned around the corner and Dr. Taslow shrugged with a haughty response, "On normal people."

Joker stopped and gave him one of his biggest smiles, what an ass, 'on normal people' he says, on normal people?! No one is normal doc, no one. Mortal yes, normal…nope.

Harley grabbed onto Jokers arm and looked up at him with concern, "All better? Everything's cleaned up?"

"Of course, Dr. Taslow was excellent in administering medication to my wound, why, he even says I was cooperative didn't you doctor?"

"Yes, now he'll be on this medication for five to seven days," he handed Harley the slip of paper to give to the medication room.

"Only five to seven days? Isn't that a bit short? Look at his wound it's infected," she pointed at Jokers stomach which was showing due to the shirt being unbuttoned.

Dr. Taslow rubbed his chin, "He heals quicker than others, you should know that Dr. Quinzel."

Harley looked up at Joker with a puzzled grin and Joker lifted his hands in the air and wiggled his fingers, "Magic!"

"Okay, five to seven days it is. Thank you very much Dr. Taslow," she smiled at the doctor and watched him turn on his heel in an impatient fashion and vanish around the corner. Harley looked up at Joker and smiled genuinely, "I owe you breakfast right?"

Joker spoke low, "I believe you do, and," he looked at the clock located on the wall, "seeing as it is already past the breakfast meal receiving time, and the meal room is closed, you best keep your promise and let me enjoy a happier meal than what they serve here."

They exited the medical room entirely and now walked down the main hall way, "And what, may I ask, would be the consequence of my actions if I had not kept up my word?"

He smiled as they walked, knowing very well that she was uncomfortable. She had, after all, seen what her genuine smile looked like in that mirror, and she now knew exactly whose smile was in his drawing…deliciously secular he thought. "I possibly wouldn't answer any questions you want to ask me in our upcoming session tomorrow."

She nodded, "Well, it never crossed my mind to not keep up with my end of the bargain."

They entered her office and Joker immediately comforted himself by throwing his body onto the long couch, tossing his legs over the arm of the sofa and tapping his fingers on his chest, "I've always loved these couches, they're so long and comfy, very nice on the back don't you think?" he turned to Harley with raised brows and she smiled as she went to the small refrigerator in the corner of her office.

"I wouldn't know, I've never sat on that couch to be honest with you," she gathered items from the mini-fridge as she spoke, "I haven't had time to just relax," Harley looked over her shoulder and grinned, "someone has been keeping me very busy with paper work, you know, with special little gifts here and there, especially murders."

Joker twiddled his thumbs as he smugly turned his head to his feet, "How rude of them."

Harley walked over to him and handed Joker a bag filled with various items of food, "Here you go, one happier meal than what you get here."

Joker immediately sat upright and dug through the meal he had been given. The first item he pulled out was a ripe pear, followed by a container filled with spaghetti. Next he pulled out a can of coke and he immediately shot a look up at Harley, "They _never_ give us soda here…especially for breakfast."

"Told you it was better than what they give you," she began typing onto her lap top, not paying much attention to what Joker was doing.

He licked his lips as he continued to search through the bag, what he saw next nearly sent him into a coma. Joker pulled the item out and held it in front of him, basically worshiping the air that floated carelessly around it, "This, Harley, this…can make any guy die happy. Really, really happy."

She looked up from her computer and giggled, "I don't think every man would die happy if they ate that, it's just a cupcake."

"You don't understand!" he looked at his cherished cake, "I don't get to eat a lot of sweets when they throw me into here, and look!" he pushed the cupcake out to her, although he was a good ten feet away from her, "It's even got sprinkles!"

"I'm aware of that, I made it," she smiled and went back to her work.

He pulled the cake back to him and examined it, it was so perfect looking, proportional down to the very tip of the icing, "Not many people can make a cupcake look this good…"

"The hard part is making it taste good, and it is breakfast time so choose between that or the soda, don't have both alright?"

He set the cupcake and soda side by side on the small table by the couch. His eyes shot back and forth between the two items, contemplating which one he wanted more, "Talk about opportunity cost."

Harley looked over at him and spoke, "I think I know who the person is in your drawing."

It peaked Jokers interest severely but he kept at his choosing process, weighing the pros and cons and acting nonchalant about the subject she had presented, "Oh really?"

"Yea," she paused and watched Joker with a faint grin on her face, "I think it might be me."

He smiled and looked at her, "Why do you think that?"

"The smile in your drawing, it looks a lot like mine, see, come here."

Joker's brow furrowed as he stood up from the couch. He made his way to Harley's desk and pressed his hands against the edge, "You have a picture of my picture?"

"Yea," she turned the laptop towards him, "see?"

Joker looked at the drawing on the computer, he had no idea when someone had taken a picture of it but that didn't bother him. He examined the smiles of the two objects, his eyes switching from the computer to Harley, back to the computer again and then back to Harley, "I think you're right," he said quietly after several moments, "What do you think that means?" he grabbed his jaw, slightly covering his mouth, more so trying to cover the smile that was so hard to keep back.

"I don't know, at least not right now, but," she smiled up at him, "we'll figure it out. How about you go and enjoy your meal alright?"

"Okay Harl. Harley," he smiled and turned back to his meal, quietly snickering to himself. He appeared back to the blundering choice of cupcake or soda, fire or ice, heaven or hell…

"Eat the cupcake, and you can have some juice instead," Harley stood up from her desk and walked over to her bookcase and began searching for something.

Deciding that it was a good alternative to the soda, Joker quickly grabbed the cupcake and peeled off the paper from the bottom of it. He opened his mouth, knowing all to well how much it was salivating over the thought of how a sugar filled cupcake was about to enter it, and then he was interrupted.

"Eat your other food first before you eat your cupcake, you'll ruin the meal if you eat that first."

What was she? His mother? No, no Harley was nothing like his mother, Harley was sweet and kind and thoughtful and hot…really hot, she had the most gorgeous mind. He set the cupcake down and dove into the spaghetti, "Fine."

Harley found the book she was looking for and flipped through the pages, stopping on a few of them and reading silently to herself as she stood, "How is it?" she asked unexpectedly.

He tossed the empty container back onto the table, "Did you make that?"

"Yea," she put the book back, "was it good?"

Was it good? Holy yes! He only ate the dreaded pasta in a minute, "A guy could get real keen on eating your meals, I'm sure the man at home has a great deal of warm belly stories to tell no?" he smiled in a conniving way and patiently waited for her to respond.

"Oh, no, I'm single," she went over to where Joker sat and took away the rest of the food wrappers and empty containers he had quickly eaten.

Why did that make him feel good? Just because she was single? Who the hell cared? This was very odd to be quite rational, "What? A girl like you has no fella lookin' after her? Preposterous, you're pullin' my leg doc!"

She smiled as her cheeks reddened, "No, no 'fella', I don't need one though. I feel safe enough."

Well wasn't she just digging a nice hole? "But you could feel safer with one?"

"Well, sure, but you know," she shrugged her shoulders and took the garbage back to her desk.

He swallowed and smiled, "I'm sure they must pawing at your door every night," he tilted his head and let his smile grow into a maddening aura of animosity, "Why, a girl with your cooking abilities, your kindness and pleasant charisma," he slanted his head to the other side, "your good looks…" he raised his right brow as Harley gave him a quick and slightly shocked glance, "it's a wonder why you don't let a man protect you in this world." Joker tilted his head back and let his teeth glow tremendously, "In this atmosphere, things could turn sour very quickly if not with the right person at the right time Harley."

"You talked about people not 'getting it' earlier, what did you mean by that?" she sat behind her desk, her fingers fidgeting with themselves.

He nodded and admired her will to change the subject, "Exactly what I said, people don't get it."

"Don't get what?" her eyes narrowed in anticipation.

Joker casually sighed and lifted his right leg over his left, "Why don't we discuss that tomorrow during our 'true' session? What do you think? It'll give us something to converse about."

"Alright," she looked at her computer and then quickly back to Joker, "you should be getting back to your room."

"Yes, that I should," he frowned just a tad, "It gets awfully boring in there, with nothing to do."

Harley stood from her desk and then opened one of the bottom drawers, she retrieved an item and then placed it in her pocket, "Come on, I'll take you back to your room."

They walked down the hall and soon arrived in front of his room, Joker turned to her and smiled, "I really do appreciate the meal you gave me, you're a great cook, and that cupcake was delicious," he ran his hand over his stomach with a warm grin.

"No problem," she opened the door for him and watched him step inside, "Here," she handed him an object, "if someone catches you with that in your room though, don't rat me out okay?"

Joker looked at the deck of cards that sat in the palm of his hand. He wrapped his fingers around the deck as he looked up at Harley. He blinked a few times searching within her vivid blues, and then hesitantly took a step towards her, "Harley?"

"Yea?" her eyes widened in a concerned fashion, "Everything okay?"

"Yes," he looked back down at the cards, "I'd give you a hug, but the security wouldn't think to kindly of that now would they?" and then suddenly he felt a small body wrap around him, warmth cloud him, and slight pressure on his chest. He leaned his head down instinctively and whispered into her ear, "Thank you Harley," and then quickly she let go, and for some reason, he felt cold, very _very_ cold.

* * *

**_Hmm..._**

**_Please leave a review, hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, don't you worry we'll see more of his sadistic side soon enough. Thanks! And happy Valentines Day, even though I'm a little late...eh, oh well!_**


	17. All I Ever Wanted

All I Ever Wanted #17

That was so very kind of her. Slipping him a nice and tightly packed deck of cards yesterday, that was polite, that was sweet. It angered him though, at the way he felt afterwards. He'd deal with that in time…

Joker held the cards in his hands, the entire deck spread out before his eyes. They were nice cards, none of that cheap stuff, and they moved nicely between his fingers and contrasted brilliantly against his skin. He shuffled the cards with tremendous speed feeling the new glaze that was fixed on them, keeping his eyes placed upon the quick blurs the cards created as they moved with precise movements in his fierce hands.

He performed these swift movements while he sat against the far wall of his bright room. Unaware of his doings, he folded his legs cleanly in front of him, and then continued to situate the various cards into that of a solitaire positioning onto the chilly ground. The backs of the cards, once they had been arranged into a prescribed placement, shone annoyingly intense into his eyes. He wrinkled his nose and looked up at the source of the pestering.

"Well aren't we just a ray of God damned sunshine?" he asked the false object above him with a sense of well and happy being in his voice, "I wish you'd just go away you know, you keep getting in the system of things," he slowly tilted his head to the side, "Not that I mind a challenge I'll let you know, but just the same, I do wish you'd leave me be."

He glanced back down over the seven small piles of cards that were before him, excited to know what could possibly be beneath them.

Of course he knew it would be a card of some sort, a five of diamonds, or a ten of spades, perhaps even an ace of some sort if he was lucky. But the fact of not knowing exactly what was beneath that top card, that unknowing anxiety, it was a treat.

A very beautiful treat to see what was to come of a small little thing, beautiful.

He flipped over the top cards of each pile, smiling as he began to play his game, playing carefully with deep thought as he snapped a card down upon another.

"Hey Boss," a voice called from just outside his rooms perimeter, "I'm back."

His eyes still darted over his game, not caring to look up at the cretin that had disappointed him with his careless deeds, "Where have you been?"

"They…" he looked over his shoulders to see if anyone was nearby, satisfied that no one was, Cur continued, "thought that I was the one who jammed the tasers, so they…uh…prohibited me from coming back to work until they were clear in…regards, to who did it."

"And they don't think it's you because?" his voice was low and calm sounding as he snapped another card down.

Cur looked down the hall edgily, "Well, I don't know, I'm not quite sure about that. They called me up last night and told me I still had my job and everything…I guess they just didn't have enough proof that it was actually me in the video. I didn't look into the camera Boss, I swear."

He flipped a card from the main deck over and then placed it onto one of the cards in a various pile, "Do you know how much I had to work at getting that video destroyed, as well as all of the other copies and originals they had?"

"Oh," Cur dug his toe into the cement, hoping that some how he could melt into it and glide away from his present situation, "Is that why I got my job back?"

"Yes, and you haven't even the gratitude to thank me."

"It ain't like I'm not thankful Boss, I just don't understand, why would they give me my job back if they knew it was me on the tapes?"

Joker snapped his next card down loudly, "Let's just say, that another guard has been _framed_…hmm?"

Cur nodded, "Okay, well, do you want to get your rituals done?"

His tone was that of agitation, "Of course I do, and the fact that you've let me sit here for another blundering three minutes, soaking back up the sweat from the clothes that I have had to painfully but patiently endure wearing for the past twenty four hours is completely beyond me."

Cur watched Joker gather his cards and slip them back into the box they had originated from. Joker slipped the deck into his pocket and Cur opened the door for him, a sense of fear residing in his knit brows. They walked down the hallway silently and soon reached the entrance to the shower rooms.

Joker quickly entered the shower and bathed himself, happy to be reunited with the 'nicer' shampoo and conditioner that Cur had gotten him.

"So, Boss…did you, ya know, write that note?"

"_Oh God you still remember that?_" he muttered to himself and then reached his hand out for the towel that he was so accustomed to be handed.

Cur religiously gave him the towel and waited patiently for Jokers response.

Joker appeared with the towel wrapped around his waist and smiled hastily at Cur, "How much of a decrepit minded idiot are you?"

"What?"

"How selfish!" he stormed closer to Cur, "How unrighteous! How egotistical of a soul you seem to have!"

"I didn't mean too! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he threw a hand up to his face to shield away the towering clown.

"You're sorry?!" he roared and balled his fists by his sides, "You get yourself caught on tape while you tampered with the tasers, and then for that you get yourself taken off duty, then _I_ have to graciously go out of _my_ way to make sure that you get your job back, _I_ went through a lot of work Cur, it isn't easy as I'm sure you must know, me being an inmate and all. And then, not only did this all occur, but you had the damned balls to come back here! To stand in front of _me_! And then ask if _I_ had the pleasure of writing your damned letter? You and your stupid unneeded affection of infatuation with Dr. Quinzel. You're sorry…you…simple minded slime!"

"Please Boss! I'm sorry, I…forget about the note you're right. I was selfish, you're right," he pleaded with every bit he had in him, begging to the superior who stood above him.

Joker's clenched teeth relaxed and his fists followed suite, "Well," he reached out and delicately patted Cur on the head, "since you see where I'm coming from and all, I suppose there was no real harm done now was there?"

Cur managed to look up at Joker, "Ri…right. But, I am sorry, and thank you for getting my job back Boss. Thank you!"

He smiled as he lifted Cur up, and then proceeded to dust off his shoulders once he stood on his own support, "Now now Cur, what are friends for? You got me great shampoo after all!"

"Right, but I still feel like I owe you. Anything Boss, you just ask, and I'll see what I can do."

"Oh Cur," he dressed into his new fresh clothing, "we're such great pals you and I, don't you think? If we just keep owing each other favors all the time, well, we'd never see the end of it! So, let's consider this the end of the scratching, kay?"

Cur scratched the back of his neck, "Alright," a quiet smile crept onto his face, "but…"

"Cur," Joker smiled as well as he placed a heavy pat on Cur's back, "what a great smile you've got."

"Thanks, uh…I really think I should owe you back Boss, that was real big ya know? Getting me my job back and everything? I need to repay you, I have to Boss...I just…"

Joker sighed and grabbed his chin in thought, "Alright Cur, I understand how you feel. I understand, but please don't think I'm relishing in the fact that you're willing to do me a favor, I find it most unpleasing."

"Of course."

"But, I have been meaning to get a rose somehow into this dusty run down establishment. I feel the need to present it to one of my finer friends I have here. Though you see, every time I try to bring in one from the back garden they just seem to die. I'd be so happy to have one that was alive," he chuckled, "at least until I can give it to my friend as a gift you understand?"

Cur smiled and nodded, "You want me to get you a nice rose? I can get you the best! In fact," he spoke with such enthusiasm, "I can get somethin' to put it in too, I can sneak it in here, promise Boss."

"A vase, that's lovely Cur!" Joker placed a hand on his chest and smiled at the ground in a modest behavior, "You know, it's great to have friends Cur, it really is."

"Yea, come on we don't want you to miss your breakfast right?"

#

Harley opened her lap top up and turned it on, "So our first real session together huh?"

"Yes, our first session. Excitement is just bursting in the air, isn't it Harley?"

She looked up from behind her computer, "Was that meant to be sarcastic Joker?" she smiled upon ending and hid herself as she began to click onto various items.

"Oh no," he defended himself, "no sarcastic elements meant in that statement, I'm very excited to pursue this conversation, I think it'll be, dare I say fun?"

"I haven't had many patients who consider their therapy sessions fun."

"Well, they just don't know how to work 'em."

Harley tapped her fingers and sighed heavily with a smile, "Okay, let's get started shall we? First off, I'd like to let you know that none of our conversations are being tapped or recorded in anyway, I am very strict about confidentiality on a doctor patient basis. Though of course if you'd like this session to be recorded, by all means just let me know. Also, if for any reason you feel violated or attacked, please don't hesitate to let me know," she smiled, "in a calm and appropriate manner of course, so I can correct myself and stop from repeating my actions in future sessions. Do you understand everything that I have presented to you?"

"What?" he asked with a kidding smile.

"I'll assume that you did. So first things first, do you feel comfortable with me as your assigned doctor? If you don't you can ask for a change."

"Oh I feel just right with you as my doctor, I wouldn't want to change for the world!"

Harley smiled awkwardly and typed into her computer, "Anything on your mind that you'd like to tell me? Anything that has been bothering you?"

"The food here is horrible, and since I had that amazing breakfast you prepared yesterday, meals here are even worse, but I know you can't do much about that."

She regretfully nodded, "Unfortunately I can't change the menus around her, beside that though anything troubling you?"

Joker leaned back in his chair and pondered, digging in his mind to see if anything interesting was truly bothering him, "Not really," he stated as he rolled his eyes back to Harley.

"Not really? Is it something personal or here at Arkham?"

"It's not a very important thing, but the light in my room is so bright, is there a way to dull it down? Even just a tad would be awfully nice, and I'd appreciate just the thought of doing something about it."

She typed it into her computer, "I'll see what I can do. How about personally? Are you feeling okay?"

"Health wise, I feel a bit loony, but," he shrugged, "that's why I'm here, to get better."

"That's probably your new medication kicking in."

"Ah," he nodded as he quietly laughed on the inside at this whole conversation so far.

Harley pulled out his binder and flipped through pages, searching in an almost aimless manner, "What do you feel comfortable talking about today? You can talk about anything you'd like."

"I'm not really sure where to start…"

"Well," she quietly thought, "how about you start with something about your father, he seemed pretty abusive to you and I'd like to hear what other memories you have of him, would you like to talk about that?"

He purposefully panted out a hesitant and shaky breath, "We can start there. You're positive this isn't on tape right?"

"Positive, I'd never lie to you. You can start whenever you're ready."

Joker closed his eyes and then slowly rubbed the side of his nose. His hands, after a brief moment, calmed themselves and sat back on his lap, "All I ever really wanted dad to do was accept me. That's all I ever wanted, all I ever needed I suppose…"

"You don't feel that he accepted you?"

"No," he bowed his head, "dad never did. He never even thought about it if I had the choice of deciding. I remember one time we came home from grocery shopping, just the necessities, always the necessities, which I don't blame my parents for. They couldn't help that, they did both work and brought home as much money as they possibly could," the whites of his eyes turned yellowish as he continued, "I always thought that we'd still be below the poverty line even if dad didn't drink away our funds."

"Your father was an alcoholic?"

"I always remember him drinking alcohol, but to say that he was an alcoholic, I'm not positive, but I wouldn't toss it over my shoulder."

Harley rubbed the top of her hand as she intently listened, "You were coming home from grocery shopping?"

"Oh yes, so we were coming home from grocery shopping, and the three of us, mom dad and I, would always put everything away in the cupboards and fridge together. Dad opens up one of the paper bags and immediately," Joker shook his head, "he just goes crazy, just starts…throwing things and yelling so loud."

"Do you know why he did?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"You see the day before, I had earned some money. I don't really recall how I came across that money, but I earned it I know. So while we were at the store, I went and got something that the whole family could enjoy, something that would bring us together and possibly put a small smile on our faces. I grabbed a box of popsicles!"

Harley smiled, "Why popsicles?"

"Why popsicles? Why popsic…oh please! They're only the best frozen treat in the world, I remember only having one before, and it had been _so_ good, _so_ memorable, that I got a box for my family to share."

"And you bought it with your own money?"

"Yes! That's the thing, when dad pulled it out of the bag, he thought that he had purchased it with his own money. I immediately told him what I did. I told him 'don't worry dad…I bought it with my own money…aren't you proud? I earned my own money and bought something for the family to enjoy!' And then POW! Should have seen that coming though…"

Harley jumped at his exclamation, "He hit you because you bought a box of popsicles with your own money to share with your family?"

"Yea," he laughed and rubbed his neck, "but, that's life. Taking shots from people, and it doesn't really matter in the end how it happened, you still get shot down. Either it be from dad, society…Batman. I just wanted to make people happy, that's all it really came down to I suppose, just making the people around me…smile. Maybe being accepted by people, and not even everyone at that! Just a few friends, someone I could talk to…like you Harley, you listen. You smile."

There was a thoughtful pause while Harley typed up his statement, when she finished she looked over at him with a small frown, "I'm sorry that your father was like that."

"Don't act like it's your fault, you shouldn't be sorry," he looked down and rubbed his eye.

"Are you okay?"

Joker glanced back up, "Oh yes…I'm fine."

"You say that you just want acceptance, but not from your dad, but also from Batman? Why do you want acceptance from him?"

"Why wouldn't I? He's my peer, wouldn't you want to be accepted by your peers?" Harley looked down and away. Joker noticed this and grinned just a little, what he just said hurt her, she hadn't or wasn't being accepted by her peers, "Not that it really bothers me, it's just the fact that he won't even consider it. Heh, I don't think in the end it would be much fun if he did anyway, but I can dream can't I? I can dream of him accepting my way over his way, and he dream of me accepting his way over mine…in the conclusion that's all it really is between us. Who can break the other first."

"You're saying it's like a contest between you two?"

"A contest? Possibly, but we don't consider it that way. We have fun Batsy and I! The fun part is knowing that neither of us will win! With each other at least, we both know that whatever we do, it won't break the other, because let's face it we're both very stubborn in our philosophies."

"Then why do you both continue to go at each other?" she typed with great speed into her computer, catching every word he said.

"It's, if you will, sort of like propaganda. He fights for his side, and I fight for mine. He tries to prove his point and I try to prove mine. It's such a simple relationship."

Harley looked up from her computer, "What point are you trying to prove?"

He cleared his throat and grinned madly as he rolled his eyes, "That all it takes is just one awfully bad day to turn any ordinary guy into a guy like me."


	18. This is Me Dammit!

This is Me Dammit! #18

"I'm not sure I understand completely," Harley adjusted her glasses with a hint of surprise lingering in her trembling fingers, "You believe that only a bad day is the cause of what has happened to you? And that just a bad day can create someone like you?"

"Well, from the questions you just asked me, it would seem that you fully do understand my words. I'm just the example of a bad day Harley, that's all."

She let the corners of her lips fall down towards her chin. An expression of confusion and reluctance to ask her next question overtook her entire appearance, "What was your bad day?"

"Don't know," he turned his head to the side and toward the bookcase in Harley's office. He then allowed his eyes to scan quickly across the different items, books about depression, suicide, mental disorders, it was rather disgusting to be quite honest. The mere knowledge of the thought that Harley, his gorgeous angel was possibly pressing her delicate and delightful skin against these literary fakes was deliriously vile, "Don't care."

"You don't know?" she flipped through the pages in his binder hastily which caught Jokers attention and brought him back to her presence, "You don't think it was your first run in with Batman? I would consider that a pretty bad day wouldn't you?"

"Now that's something to think about isn't it?" he stood up from his spot and walked over to the shelves filled with the books he had just been glancing at, "My bad day involved Batsy. You know, no other doctor has thought that my flea bath was a consideration of being deemed as a bad day," he held his chin in thoughtful purpose and ran his free index finger against the spine of a thin dusty book, "They just…tossed it over their shoulders. I mean honestly, how could falling into chemicals be such a bad thing, that certainly couldn't account to why he ultimately went loonier than a bag of cartoons could it? No of course not…that would just make a bunch of silly sense!" he pulled the book out of its orderly line and dusted it off as he went back to his seat, "Just a bunch of silly sense…"

"So you do know what your bad day was?"

"I know part of my bad day, everything before that I can't remember a thing about." he smiled as he opened the book and thumbed his way through the pages, "Something had to have happened, right? I mean, suh-say, why was I there? Wha-at happened, wha-at was going on?"

Harley watched him turn the pages violently, "We can stop talking about this, and move onto another subject if you'd like. It seems to be upsetting you. How about you talk about your father for a little while and try to relax. You seemed to be doing very well when you were talking about him."

Joker slammed the cover of the book down and forced it closed, "Yes. You know Harley, I just don't understand _why_ I was never accepted by my father. I remember always being a pretty good kid. _Sure_ I had my pouts and falls but what kid _doesn't_?" Joker wiped at his nose and continued, "I was just a kid and he hit me down, shoved me down further and further!" his fists balled in front of him and he forced his eyes to water as he looked up at her, "Do you know how it feels, to not be accepted by your own father? The people around you? Your peers? It hurts."

Harley's finger curved over her lips, as if in a hushing notion. Her eyes were vivid and blue and her brow added to her saddened features by creating their own look of remorse. Joker took in every detail.

"I just think that maybe if there was someone who was like me, someone who was looking for acceptance as well, I could relate to them and talk openly about my problems. But, I'm at Arkham and everyone fits that description in someway or another, the thing is, I want to talk to someone who isn't crazy. I want to talk to someone who can hold a conversation for at least five minutes. You understand? Of course you understand, you're a smart girl."

"I know how you feel," she didn't look directly into his eyes as she twirled her finger against the smooth wood grain of her desk, "I'm looking for acceptance around me too."

Bingo, "You…you are? A pretty girl like yourself isn't being accepted? Now Dr. Quinzel, you can hardly put my shock and astonishment past such an accusation as the one you so humbly and freely stated."

A small smile crept up her cheek, "Honest. My fellow doctors, peers, don't necessarily agree on my method of treating patients. They say it's ridiculous to be treating my patients the way I do, more so you than others."

"Is that so? Well, to be quite truthful with you Harley, I like your method. Maybe if they just understood how to deal with their patients, in a kind way…in an accepting way, they would get results as good as yours," he smiled and set the book on the ground, "Really though, can any of those doctors vouch for making it through even one session with me?"

She laughed, "Technically, I haven't made it through my first session with you yet."

"I assure you, I have no funny business up my sleeves. You know Harley, this whole acceptance bit, isn't it a bit profound?"

"Profound?" she asked as she typed into her computer.

"Yes, it just seems a little too over rated now that I think about it. It's about time for us to stand up!" he stood out of his seat and pressed his knuckles against his hips, "Come on Harley, stand up."

"What?" she giggled, "Why do you want me to stand up?"

"Oh don't question it and be boring, just do! Now come on and get up, stand up with me."

Harley hesitantly rose from her seat, "Alright," her smile grew in confusion.

"Good. Now I do believe that there comes a time in this meaningless world to stand up and just shout out at the world that this is me damn it! This is me! This is the way I think! This is the way I feel! This is the way I act! I am a complex bundle of something rather and you can accept me or shove me away, either way you see fit, don't make me feel any less of a being just because I don't meet your pathetic spineless expectations!" his eyes met Harleys, "Now you say it, this is me damn it!"

She bit her lip to suppress her giggle, "Really?"

"Yes really!" he tossed his hand in the air, "Say it," he proposed with the largest smile he could produce.

"This is me damn it," she laughed.

"Oh come on Harley, what the hell was that? Tell those losers who you are, scream it out, let loose on your words!"

"This is me damn it!"

"There you go! Never hold back!"

Harley placed her hands on her hips, "This is me! This is the way I think, the way I feel, and the way I act! Get used to it!"

Joker relaxed his stance and let his arms fall leisurely to his sides, "Now I believe you."

"Yes," Harley smoothed her skirt and walked over to where the book had been placed on the floor, "well," she picked it up, just inches from Jokers frame and stood fully with the thin book in her hands, "that felt good to say. To just let it out."

Joker watched her place the book back in its slot, "Why do we seek acceptance anyway Harley?"

She stood in front of him and shook her head, "I guess it just feels natural."

"Is it natural to feel like it's the right thing to do…to feel like we need to compare ourselves to others who we believe are higher than us? Because, for some unjustified reason we feel like they are greater than us? Why do you feel they are greater than you Harley? Why do you feel like you don't belong? Why, just because you have a somewhat different technique in your methods to treating your patients? You feel, that just because of that they're better than you?"

Harley wiped her tear away, "I don't know. I shouldn't be discussing this with you."

"Why? Because they wouldn't accept you for discussing this with me? They wouldn't agree to your choice of actually talking to your patient? The world won't accept that you are discussing 'hush-hush' issues…with your patient? And for that, they will not accept you as an incredible doctor, because you broke some _rules_."

Her eyes darted to his, "But…"

"No buts, it's the truth. Society shuns you, disowns you for expressing what you believe is the right way to conduct things. Sometimes rules need to be broken in order for people to understand, to comprehend what their so called reality really is."

"What is it?"

"It's a joke."

Harley let her chin drop and she looked around at Jokers feet, noting how the socks needed to be cleaned, "How is it a joke?"

Joker threw his hands into the air and towered over her, "You're all living a lie! Every single one of you! Day and night, night and day, as clear as damn crystal!" he watched Harley jump back in fear and he was quick in his caring and sweet tone, "Oh, I don't mean to take it out on you Harley," he took a small step back himself and smiled calmly, "After all, at least your trying to understand, trying to see where my point of view is on all of this. I respect that, I really do."

She nodded as tears drenched her cheeks, "You just…just scared me is all."

He thought about it, reaching out to her and giving her a hug, telling her everything would be fine now that he had such a wonderful doctor. But no, he decided to do something that was slightly different, "Harley, it's okay," he reached his hand out to her cheek and wiped away her tears, "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you intentionally, you believe me right? I'm trying to get better and it's just a matter of time is all. I'm not going to change over night, but with your help Harley, I know. I know you'll help me."

Her eyes were bright and intense with the fear of not truly knowing what he would do, but she slowly nodded, "I'll help you, we'll let everyone see that you are capable of living within this society respectfully."

"Thank you for understanding," he let his thumb glide over cheek and then he pulled it away, "you're just so kind, so forgiving. And, when I tell you this it is of the utmost truth, I accept you for who you are."

Harley looked away, "I know you do. You say acceptance doesn't matter anymore, that it's what we see in ourselves. You're wrong, acceptance does matter. If they would have just accepted you I know you would have never become hostile," she pressed her hand against her forehead and closed her eyes to keep back her tears, "I don't even know what I'm saying, I'm sorry."

"No Harley you know what you're saying," he took a small step towards her, "now enough with all this crying. Here…" Joker opened his arms up for her and he took another step in her direction, "I've heard that a nice dose of a warm hug is almost as good as a spoonful of laughter."

Harley smiled and met him in the embrace, "Nicely said."

"Well, I try," he patted her on the back gently and for some reason felt reluctant to let go, although he did.

She looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed, "It's about time for you to get back to your room. Sorry, I know you don't like it much in there."

"It's not all that bad to be honest," he pulled the deck of cards out of his pocket and waved it in front of his chest, "I mean I've got entertainment now."

"I'm glad you enjoy them," she wiped her face down with her hands and straightened her skirt further, "Alright Joker, come on."

They walked down the main hall in their repetitive fashion, passing the cells of numerous inmates with all different types of labels on them. On their way they happened to pass by Cur who was completely oblivious, not much surprise to Joker in any fashion.

"Hey Boss!" he screamed out loud and Joker immediately gave him a hasty sneer, "Oh, suh-sorry…uh…my mistake wrong guy!" he scurried off, concealing the vase he had gotten in his coat jacket.

Joker wanted to snap his inadequate neck. Honestly 'my mistake wrong guy'? How do you make a mistake with identities when it came to his unique look? Stupid blundering fool. Hopefully Harley didn't notice his crude mistake.

Harley looked over her shoulder to make sure that Cur was out of her view, "That guy always gives me the creeps."

"Really? He seems like a nice fellow to me, a bit of an idiot, but nice none the less."

She giggled, "He just always stares at me. I'm over reacting I'm sure," she slid her card through the access meter and waited for the door to open.

Joker stepped inside, "Home again," he laughed as he turned back to Harley, "That was a pleasant chat we had, I feel refreshed to have gotten some of that extra weight off my chest."

"Good, I'm glad you're making progress," she awkwardly rolled on her feet, "Well, you try to have a good rest of the day huh?" she patted her hand on the door and watched him nod.

"Of course I'll try, and you'll do the same I presume?"

She calmly nodded, "Yes," and then began to walk away down the hall.

"Hey Dr. Quinzel!"

Harley smiled but kept walking as she listened to Joker speak.

"Remember who you are!"

"And this is me," she turned the corner smiling proudly, "this is me dammit."


	19. Territory

Territory #19

That had been a grand occurrence he witnessed during his session, seeing Miss Quinn and not Dr. Quinzel. She'd been so much more alive, more responsive, and for the lack of a better word to him at least, _happier_.

And although he had only been given a quick and short glimpse of that gorgeous and righteous girl, it had spirited his bones, shaken his nerves, and curved that unique smile of his up a notch further than it had respectively been.

She was just so great, especially in regards to the difference in her smile. It had been without a doubt splendid before, but now it sparkled to a magnificent glow of raw pumping adrenaline that he could feed off of, live off of…and in time he would get it. Miss Harley Quinn was already falling into his luscious hands, and she seemed quite eager in her steps. Delectable really…

Joker lathered his body with the small bar of soap that had been located in the corner of his cramped showering stall. Smoothly and steadily he forced the soap along, following the dips and curves that his stomach muscles produced, giggling quietly for only reasons he knew.

On his downwards motioning of the soap against his skin, it slipped quite suddenly, resulting in a short bursting chuckle.

"Oops!" he knelt down to retrieve his fallen accompanying bar, "Dropt the soap!" Joker grasped the bar and smiled at it, "You best not be trying to get _fresh_ with me."

He stood back up and felt a nick occur against the back of his hand. Joker lifted his brow and tilted his head back slightly as he looked at the small cut on his skin. A quick rationalizing that he must have brushed it against the corner of the metal brace bar on the shower wall.

With his index finger and thumb, Joker spread the small slice apart. The blood oozed faster out of the wound, surprising him in the actual deepness of the cut and he was quick to bring his mouth to the savory swirling hue.

His cheeks sunk in as he sucked at the cut. Eyes rolling back and then shut, shoulders slumping at the pure ecstasy of the taste, his whole body relaxing as he ran his tongue over the sever…

His chest gave an abrupt jump as he laughed and blew a gust of happy air out of his nose. It tasted so superb, the iron tang on his tongue, that indifferent feel as it played mirthlessly around in his mouth, the image of Harley's lips covered in the same blood as he kissed her in tantalizing and ravishing…

"Damn girl," he pulled his lips away from the wound and stared at it. The edges and surrounding area of his slice grew to a purplish color and he hesitantly touched it with his finger.

There was a slight sting, and then an overwhelming sensation of bliss. The lids of his eyes grew heavy in response and he steadily drew his hand back to the destination of his mouth. Once it was back in its rightful place, he continued with the sucking, tasting that indescribable taste, feeling that playful and rambunctious feel, imagining that beautiful and bright smiling image…

His eyes bolted open and pulled his hand away, as he stood blank for a moment. He then reared his head back and let out a healthy but quiet laugh, "Oh, my sweet and innocent little Harley…"

He exited the shower and received his expected towel by none other than his oblivious Cur, "I presume that the vase and rose was given to the janitor? Just as I told you to do so?"

"Of course Boss, just like you said. Last night I gave Robert the rose and vase before I left," he waited impatiently for his praise like a new-born puppy at Jokers feet.

"Good, good…no one saw you?"

Cur smiled and shook his head as Joker dressed into his clean Arkham suit, "Not a soul! Even made sure I gave the stuff to Robert where the security cameras can't see."

Joker stretched and walked to the doors of the showering room and exited, making his relaxed steps known, "I'm not hungry today Cur, I think I'll skip breakfast and head to the common room before I have to endure my woe party."

"Are you sure you aren't hungry?" Cur caught up to his side rapidly.

"Positive," he replied with a keen smile, "You did say that Dr. Quinzel passes by there every morning did you not? I have a little plan to commit."

"Yea Boss, every morning," they reached the common room and Cur opened the door for Joker, "Here you are, I'll see you later Boss."

He strutted inside glancing around at the plethora of empty seats, listening to the quiet buzz of the television, and feeling the strong hand of a burly looking guard.

"Hold it Joker, you know the rules. Hands out for your cuffs while you're in the common room."

"Oh of course, a mere mistake," he pushed his hands out to the guard and smiled as he came across the name tag, "Bobby, Bobby that's a nice universal name. You're parents had high-quality taste I'm sure."

The sentinel was quick to unearth his story, "You _killed_ my parents…" a nasty growl ended his statement.

Joker blinked at the man, knowing full-well that he did kill the man's parents; in fact it was a part of his plan. He took in the information and then casually smirked, "Really? I don't recall ever doing something like that, though I do seem to be getting that a lot lately," he laughed and pointed at his hair with his now cuffed hands, "Must be the hair eh?"

Bobby unleashed a frightful punch to the clowns face, causing his knuckles to swell upon impact, "I've been waiting to get you alone in this asylum since the day I joined in."

"Well, that wasn't very nice!" Joker regained his composure and smiled at the guard, letting his teeth shine maliciously as some blood from his cut tongue seeped between the crevices, "You must not know who you're dealing with…"

"You murdered them both…I was just a kid and had to live without my parents while I grew up in this life. You have no idea how hard it was for me you sick freak, so I'm here to even things up, you took my parents…so now I'm taking you!"

Joker leaned in towards Bobby's ear and whispered after licking the blood away from his lip, "You know what your mother said to me before I killed her?" he watched the sentinels body tense and he continued on, "Her name was Margaret right? Yes, I remember her, not much of a fighter; let me kill her with such ease!"

"What did she say!" he grabbed Joker by the shirt and pulled him closer to his ear.

"She told me her secrets Bobby, told me that she had to tell someone before she died. Just had to get it off her chest…" Joker whispered lower letting the back noise of the television interfere with his message, "She told me…"

"Hey what's going on here?" Harley grabbed onto Jokers arm and pulled him away from Bobby's grasp.

Bobby's eyes widened, "What did she say?!" he pleaded and fell to his knees, "Please tell me!"

Harley looked at the fallen man and then up at Joker who gave her a surprised and bewildered look, "I have no idea what he's talking about, honest Harley."

She narrowed her glance and looked at Jokers bloody chin, "Who hit you? Did Bobby hit you?"

"Well look at him Harley, he's obviously delusional. I can't blame him for hitting me. He probably thought I was someone else for all I know."

"No! He's lying! He killed my parents and…my mother told him something…and…"

Harley knelt down by the guard's side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's alright Bobby, we're going to get you some help alright?"

Bobby looked at Harley with an expression of pure shock, "No…"

Joker smiled and knelt down as well, "Yea Bobby, don't you worry. We're going to get you some help. After all, you're in the right place."

Bobby growled and lunged at Joker, forcing him onto his back and chocking him with full strength, "You bastard, what did she say to you?!"

"Bobby! Get off of him, he's only trying to help!" Harley latched onto his shoulders and tried to yank him off, but her small stature didn't compare to the guards hefty size.

"Yes Bobby, I'm only trying to help!" he smiled and laughed as he watched the angry eyes of the guard burn gracefully into his own.

Feeling the weak hands on his shoulders, Bobby looked back at Harley and elbowed her in the jaw. She fell back and scurried into the corner where she hastily pulled out her emergency beeper and pressed it furiously.

Jokers smile disappeared instantly and his laughing halted to a bitter stop as he saw the futile elbowing attack provided by Bobby. He darkened his eyes and grimaced at the man above him, "You've forced your hand friend…"

He slipped his hands out from under Bobby's body and then threw the chain part of his cuffs over and behind Bobby's neck. Joker then crossed his wrists, bringing his right hand to the left side, and his left hand to the right, which caused the chain to cross and constrict against Bobby's throat.

Bobby's hands soon loosened against Jokers neckline and consequently flew up to his own throat, trying to pry the chain away, his death away, from the frightful hands of The Clown Prince of Crime.

Joker gained the advantage and pushed Bobby to his side, resulting in Joker kneeling up on top of him, and furthering his constricting and death ridden method until Bobby's eyes were lifeless and dull.

He leaned down to Bobby's ear and whispered once again, "No one…touches…my possessions. No one touches…my girl. Or things will end quickly…kay?" Joker removed his cuffs from around Bobby's neck and staggered backwards, letting the blood from his mouth drip carelessly around him. He heard an almost silent sob behind him and he turned slowly to see a frightened Harley scrunched up in the corner of the room. "Harley."

"You killed him…" she started to hyperventilate and Joker was quick to sit by her side.

"Shhh, Harley," Joker pulled off her glasses and then wiped the tears from her eyes away, "I was defending myself. You saw him, he wasn't okay."

She nodded, "I was just walking by…and saw you two," her tears ran faster down her cheeks.

"Come here," he opened his arms for her and she hesitated at first, but then scooted over closer to him and into his arms, "There now," he stroked her back soothingly and let her cry into his neck, "you're safe Harley, shhh."

"I was afraid you were going to get hurt," she commented as soon as her sobs quieted down.

Joker smiled and pulled her away from his neck. He looked into her eyes and laughed again as he wiped her cheek, catching her tears and wiping them on his outfit. He came across her jaw and noticed the casual purplish swelling starting to take place and his smile dropped into a frown.

It angered him, bothered him, frustrated him, and humiliated him. Bobby had caused this imperfection on _his_ angel, left his mark on _his_ belonging. That wasn't conceivably right, no way was this foul and disgusting creature going to get the happy fact of knowing he had marked his territory on _his_ Harley. And there were two ways he could go about marking it back, he could either leave a bigger and better signature, or…

He cupped her chin in his hand and stroked the beginning bruise with his thumb softly. Harleys crying ceased altogether as she watched Jokers actions unfold. He looked at her eyes, wet and moist baby blues shimmering from the annoying and pestering lights overhead, and then leaned in towards her jaw.

He stopped and hovered above the mark, his warm breath traveling against her skin all the while. Joker looked into Harley's eyes once again, searching for any indication that she didn't want him to proceed. He was pleased to see that she didn't show any signs, so he continued and presented her with a sweet and velvety kiss against her bruise.

Joker pulled away unhurriedly, satisfied to have rightfully marked her. He licked the corner of his lip as he still allowed his gaze to linger in her eyes, and he couldn't help but smile at how vivacious they looked, "Harley?"

"Yea?" she answered after a lengthy pause.

That content look of hers made him yearn for more, yearn and desire for that molasses like blood he just knew she had. He slyly placed his hand on her cheek and once again leaned in to the point where the tips of their noses touched.

Joker pressed his thumb against her lips and then pushed his mouth against his thumb as well. He let it slide coolly down in a slow behavior until both of their top lips were free of the thumbed barrier…

The door handle sounded behind them, and Joker was quick to pull away from Harley.

"Joker! Stand with your arms up at your sides, and step back from Dr. Quinzel! Now!"

He stood up with a shrug and lifted his arms up to his sides, still smiling at Harley.

"You don't understand," Harley spoke up as she too stood from her spot, "He protected me, and was defending himself from Bobby."

The mass of guards looked around at each other, "The Joker, protected you?"

"Well, of course!" Joker turned around and smiled at the crowd before him, "She's _my_ doctor. If someone is going to hurt her, it ought to be _me_."


	20. Shall We Kiss?

Shall We Kiss? 20

Well that had gone presumably well, taking all things into consideration. Of course he had to sacrifice his breakfast and lunch, and even though the food here was unbelievably sub par, it did it's job. And boy was he hungry, for more than food he might add.

Then there was that damn straightjacket again. Lessening his grand and satisfying mobility so he could just sit there on his less than pleasurable cot and rot away. And this he wasn't much for, but he got a thoughtful gift, a nice facemask that barred across his unique features so he wouldn't nip! Well, whatever gets their gears turning; he was all about fulfilling the audience's wants. Not to mention it gave him quite the alarming and frightful appearance.

But yes, besides the missing of his merrily malevolent meals, his stylish stiff straightjacket, and fashionably fearsome facemask, things had gone ultimately better than planned.

After all, the plan had been moderately simple. Get Bobby antsy in his pants, have Harley take notice, and then have her burst with exaggerated splendor into the common room and throw-up her adoring sympathy all over his acting sore bones…

That was it. Very simple.

Don't get him wrong. He assumed that something different than planned would take place and change the simple blueprint and make it complex. It usually happened that way. He was nevertheless highly experienced in that regard. Taking in the fact of all his dealings with Bat guano. Something always changed in the original plans and he would roll with it. In the end, the show must go on, does it not?

In this case, the minor change had been a fowl territory exchange. Bobby entered in on his belonging and left a nasty first impression. And, like he thought to himself before, that wasn't conceivably right. So in the end, Bobby got his punishment, and Joker got his territory rightfully back.

That wasn't expected either. Having to comfort Harley? No, not expected one little tad, but it worked splendidly. Her sitting there, tears licking her cheeks, scared and unsure about the dangerous confusion that had just transpired. And he heroically, for some unearthly dreadful diseased reason, swiftly fell to her magnificent side and let her shaken nerves embrace him…

How disgustingly and diabolically romantic could he get?

And that beginning mark on her jaw was practically begging for him to take it back. Just pleading, almost demanding for its true and rightful owner to win it caressingly back. He could have produced a larger mark, but for sane, or lack of a better word at this point, reasons he decided against it.

It probably wouldn't have been the best thing to do, just reach out and belt her one while she was still gathering her mixed feelings towards him. Most likely wouldn't come off as an act of positive measures in the beginning…

But in the conclusion? Well, that was entirely different. He would take his sweet time in explaining to her why he had to hit her; she was _his_ end of story. And just imagining that little light flicker on inside her beautiful little mind was just beyond satisfying, beyond most things. Because he knew that Harley would find that irresistibly arousing. He knew his Harleys mind.

What? You think he didn't know? Harley was head over heels about him. Though she didn't outright say it, there were multiple hints. Hundreds if you truly think about it. From every dimple she created, to every brow raise, to every lip quiver, to every word, to every breath…everything she did was an indicator, everything.

So, after he placed that overly sickening kiss on her bruised jaw, he pulled away and came to the brightening result that she wanted more. Like his mind explained, everything is an indicator and those eyes were drooling globs of tears for him to just brush his red lips against hers.

Why not eh? He'd really give her a territory marking that way, and she would have really been in his mitts!

But se la vie, interruption is such a predator is it not?

Harley tapped lightly against the glass door of his room, careful to not raise suspicion at this time of night. It wasn't customary for doctors to be in this late, besides the exception for busy work like filing and answering emails. For the most part, they never dared to explore the Arkham hallways at such a time.

"Joker? Are you awake?" her whispering voice asked.

He opened his eyes from his groggy resting and looked up with the best of his ability, "Oh." Joker seeing who his visitor was, pulled his legs off from the bed and placed each foot onto the hard cement ground, "Tis a bit late for a doctor to be roaming around such dangerous halls."

She licked her lips unsurely, as if she were actually disappointed that he would be awake, "I need to ask you a few things."

Joker looked up at the turned off light and then around at his cage. Every corner dark and shadowy, just the way he preferred it, "Are these questions concerning yesterdays events in the common room?"

"A few of them, yes. And also this, I'd like to know how this got into my office," she withdrew the single rose from behind her back and held it secretively in front of her.

He smiled behind the barred mask and stood up from his spot, "How do you propose it got there?" his voice sly and menacing, "I put it there."

"You could get in a lot of trouble you know. You aren't supposed to be out of your cell. And especially not in my office."

Joker furrowed his brows and approached his side of the door, "That's the first time you called my 'room' a cell Harley."

"It was just a slip," she shook her head disregarding her previous word.

"Do you not like the rose? Is it not fresh enough? I can get you another if you'd like."

She swallowed and looked down at the twirling flower in her fingers, "No, no, I really like it. I love it. It's just that, it's not appropriate for you to be in my office, and not appropriate for you to be showing affection in this manner."

"It's just a friendly gift is all Harley," he tried to wiggle his fingers against his body as he spoke. But found it difficult due to the tightness of the jacket this time around.

Harley cleared her throat, "What happened in the common room?" and attempted to change the subject from an awkward one, to an even more awkward position.

"Bobby, that guard, I'm guessing went delusional. He attacked me, hurt you," he eyed her bruise and popped his neck, "and in the situation I thought it best to fight back. I was defending myself, and the result was him becoming subdued."

She switched her weight from her left leg to her right and in the process caused a ring of keys to jingle at her side, "I mean, what happened after that?"

"After," he looked at the keys, aware that she had never held anything but her access card before and then continued, "I saw you in the corner of the room Harl. And you looked frightened so I tried to comfort you. I know you've never been in a situation like that, and I was just trying to calm down a friend."

Harley bit her lip and looked down at the ground, "But-"

"Harley," he questioned cutting her off, "don't you think it would be more appropriate if we were to speak without this door in the way?"

"It would," she looked to her left and then to her right, "But the cameras will see me talking to you in your ce…room and-"

"Harley, it's too dark for the cameras to see. No one would know. Besides, you're being a good doctor and discussing matters with a patient. What could be so wrong about that?"

She looked up at his caged smile and after a moment of more pondering about where she should take the situation, decided to go for it. Harley pulled her access card out of her coat pocket and swiped it through the access meter. Once the door opened she slipped herself into his cell, unseen, and uncomfortably stood in her spot.

"Take a seat and make yourself at home," he chuckled and permitted himself a seat on his cot, "Come on, don't be shy."

Harley smoothed her skirt and hesitantly took a seat next to him, "You…you kissed my jaw. My bruise."

"Yes, I did. You don't have to be nervous Harley, I'm in a straightjacket and have a barred facemask on. I can't hurt you. I wouldn't hurt you."

"I know, I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to make of that kiss. And not to mention the other part."

Joker didn't let up on his smile as he looked over at her, "You make whatever you want to make of that kiss. As for the other part, it didn't happen, it only sparked."

Harley set the rose down on the cot beside her and then looked at him with questioning blue eyes, "Did…did you want it to happen?"

"If I didn't want it to happen Harley, I wouldn't have tried."

"What about, mystery girl?" she smiled, "What ever happened to her?"

Seeing how she was now relaxing slightly more, he leaned back and chuckled quietly, "You could say she blossomed into something more. Something that is above me in some aspects."

"Oh," she responded in a whisper, "You know you don't deserve to have that jacket and mask on. You were only protecting yourself and I. Most people in that situation would have most likely done the same thing."

"Try telling that to Dr. Arkham," he laughed.

She pulled the keys off of her side and held them in front of her, "I can take the mask off at least, you'll have better jaw mobility to talk. But after I'll have to put it back on. Would you like for me to do that?"

He leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I believe there are other reasons as to why you want to take this mask off of my face Dr. Quinzel."

"Well, there could be," she smiled at his seductive whisper.

"Then I solemnly believe you should take it off."

She pursed her lips searching for the right key, and when she found it, presented it to the small lock on the mask. Harley, once the key was inside the lock stopped out of realization to what she was actually doing.

"Harley," Joker sweetly spoke in his common whisper, "I know it's fearful to have feelings toward someone that death can touch and yet not kill. But love is always creative, and fear is always destructive. Don't destroy…create."

Harley stared into his eyes as he stared into hers, "Okay." With that, she unlocked the mask quietly unhinging it from his face, and laying it on the bed beside the rose.

He stretched his jaw out and smiled, "Thank you, you have no idea how treacherous that thing feels."

"I'm sorry you have to wear it. It isn't fair."

"That's life," he shrugged with a grin and leaned in towards her.

"Wait."

Joker pulled back and smiled, "We don't have to if you're not comfortable Harley. That's the last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable."

She smiled and blushed, "No, no I want to," Harley let out a heavy breath and nodded, "Okay."

He went back to her ear slowly and pressed his lips against the near by skin, "Are you sure?"

Harley nodded cautiously and felt his pitter patter of breathing run along her jaw line and right to her lips. Once again he hovered above them not wanting to move too fast and seem too eager. Timing was everything in these circumstances.

Joker gave her a courteous smile and tilted his head to the side, causing his nose to rub against the tip of hers. He looked into her eyes, still bubbly and fizzing with that gorgeous splendor, he was so close to stealing her away. He pressed his lips against hers, a feather light kiss that lingered for just the right time. Her soft lips playfully calling out to him, to stay for eternity.

He allowed himself to pull away and loiter gently around her face, still smiling his smile.

Harley after a silent moment grinned and blushed further. She hid her eyes behind her hand and gave a short laugh.

"Harley, you're blushing. Are you in love?" he caressed her ear with his voice.

She answered quickly with a laugh causing her cheeks to redden a large amount, "I don't know…"

"You don't know?" he playfully asked in a shocked but hushed tone. Joker then pressed his cheek against hers as he spoke into her ear, adding to the overall effect he was having on her. Slowly bit by bit, reeling her in, "What a waste of pure beauty a girl like you has…"

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**Dedicated to my friend and fellow writer ALEX SNAPE, happy birthday!! Hope you enjoy!**


	21. To Break A Star

**Well, this is it, the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

To Break A Star #21

Truthfully, he only had one real thought on his mind in regards to the lovely kiss he had given her. Yes that memorable night, a whole four months ago, he had given Harley a simple and gentle caress to the lips. Sure it was nice, sure it was intimate, and sure it was a bit _romantic_ some could say. But really there was only one thing to be said in the end…

You can provoke with a sword, but a kiss…a simple kiss…can conquer.

Of course all thirty four facial muscles are used, millions of nerve endings shoot from your mouth to your mind, dopamine shoots through your body rushing and racing to reach a destination that is ultimately unknown, but…

He _dominated_.

A cushy and effortlessly undemanding touch is all he had done! And to think, to begin to comprehend the complexity of such a _damn simple gesture_, a kiss! A kiss conquered, subjugated! It was without a doubt, a beautiful thing.

A mind-blowing realization of something that is thought to be so simple. When in all reality its something that is so much _more_.

Even when you begin to recount all the things he had done to provoke the kiss, the white lies, the stories, the over exaggerated sympathy acts…it only _helped_. The kiss, that prominent tiny brush against Harley's lips was the true an effortless judge that broke her mind, the rest was just the appetizer that induced her to want to kiss him.

And he had done it all.

Though of course there were other things that added to her fractured mind. Just little things here and there that he repeatedly followed after the kiss. A few more lies, playful kissing during sessions, those wonderful acts he produced…little things.

She had come so far from what she had been. Once a proud and righteous psychologist, who only wanted the best for her patients, was now a girl who strived to gain the attention and affection of only him. Always willing, always sacrificing, _no matter what the cost_, to make sure that he, The Joker, was happy and content.

It was perfect.

Harley had a long way to go though. She made awful mistakes at times and for that she was reprimanded sternly; it was the only way for her to learn. After all, she had been the one to produce the grave blunder of letting their intimate secret of being 'together' out, which just so happened to result in her breaking him out of Arkham. And supposedly being warm and close toward your patient or doctor was a 'no no', especially in the eyes of his playful Cur.

The stupid little wench didn't mind to cover the small see through window located within her office door. He told her time and time again, that before she even consider sitting next to him and magically using her fingers to tickle and prance about him, to make sure that the door was locked and the window covered. And, consequently, the one time she hadn't kept to her religious caper, his other oblivious toy, Cur, had by chance seen a bit of affection unfold between the two of them.

Supposedly the lumbering fool had taken action against the seeing of this torturous and shocking display, and went straight to Dr. Arkham in anger towards Joker, for 'stealing his girl'.

_Please_.

Harley was his and no one else's, that was for damn sure! So, Joker had the brilliant idea of scolding Cur appropriately for his unneeded and selfish attention grabber. With Harley Quinn right by his side.

Joker came upon the old lifeless building that lingered closely to the harbors edge. The relentless scent of the salty air snuck into his senses and enticed him to complete infatuation with the present time, and those soon to be wincing screams. A pure joyous aroma that was about to encase his very being with unrelenting devotion.

He gave the door to the building a grinning push and felt his skin pucker into delicious goose bumps as the hinges gave a terrifying screech. His own maddening smile however, was nothing to battle with.

As he pulled off his wide brimmed hat and closed the door shut with the heel of his shoe, he tilted his head in warmth at the glorious sight before him.

There, right in front of his glistening purple eyes, sat his Harley. Propped up on the small table in the room. With her legs crossed, swaying back and forth childishly, her hands comfortably folded and placed in her lap, her beautiful upper body slowly teetering side to side, she smiled…smiled happily and devotedly to him.

"Puddin'!" she jumped up and away from the table and skipped merrily over to him with a hint of pep in her steps, "I thought you said you weren't going to be back until later on."

And he graciously opened his arms up for her small form that was fitted and clothed with her black and red suit. It pounded against his soul, her entire aspect of appearance, from the cleverly placed alternating diamonds, to the harmonious jester hat. When her body came in contact with his, he couldn't help but feel a never-ending ray of heat encompass him. Casually he embraced her, wrapped his arms around her and smiled, "Are you saying you didn't want me to come early Pooh? I thought you said you were eager to do this."

"Oh!" she looked up at him with those purely pleading eyes, "I didn't mean it that way honest! I was just surprised."

Joker gave her a somber pat on the head and she smiled in utter delight, and without truly noticing, advanced up onto the tips of her toes as she removed herself from the hug.

"So how's our little tattler hmm?" he giggled in his question as Harley gave a startling but happy jump in response.

She swaggered over to an adjacent room and grabbed hold of the rusty knob leading into it, giving Joker a sympathetic and wanting look, "Can we check?"

He gave a simple nod and she excitedly entered the new room. Sitting in a chair, bound and tied down, was Cur who looked rather cozy. The skin on his left cheek had been pulled away, leaving a patch of already infected raw meat bare and exposed to the salty air. And on his neck lay a large gash from what could only be suspected was from a knife, as well as other meaningless and torturous doings.

Joker tediously took proportioned steps towards his victim until he was standing by his side. Looking hungrily down at Cur with his everlasting glare, he placed a firm grasp onto the withered mans shoulder and spoke cheerfully, "How are we doing today Cur?"

Cur looked drowsily up at him, his eyes rolling in ache, in agitation, to the pain he was feeling throughout his body, "I'm okay…I'm okay Boss."

Joker looked over at Harley and she instantly understood what his demanding look wanted. With quick and effortless steps, she brought him a chair to sit down in, holding onto it until he was situated in a physically pleasant position.

"Okay?" he leaned forward in his spot and smiled chillingly, "You're okay?"

"I…I understand that what I did was wrong. You're…the Boss, you-"

"Shut it!" Joker snapped suddenly, his calm tone now filled with bitter anger and frustration, "You can't excuse your preposterous doings! You had no right, no dignified standing as to even remotely think about telling Arkham about what you saw. And yet, yet you go and tell, not think, you fully tell!"

A single tear dripped away from the crevice of his swollen eye, "Boss…but I," he looked up at Harley and she smirked rudely but softly back at him.

Joker waved his hand in the air, shooing away Harley from the room. But she was quick to provide a protest, "But Puddin', I want to-"

He gently looked over his shoulder in her direction, placing a semi glancing stern look onto her figure. Understanding the strong look, Harley slouched down with a sigh and removed herself from the room.

"You see Cur," he started after Harley had fully exited the area, "I don't care about your excuses. Even if they somehow make a great defense in your position, I really couldn't care less. So…you'll shut up and not speak another defiant word until I allow it, got it?"

Cur nodded to the best of his ability, which caused a silent stream of blood to run from his nose.

"Good. Now, I understand that you wanted to tell me something, but Harley's presence was making that difficult for you. And, as you can clearly see, she's not here anymore. What was this ill mannered excuse that I could merely give a damn about…about?"

He hesitated slightly at first but then mustered up a small strength of courage to proceed, "I did what I did…because I love her. I saw…I saw you kiss her and she looked so happy. I wanted to make her happy, and I just go so angry that it wasn't me. I love…I love her Boss. But she doesn't love me, she loves you…"

"Oh Cur," he bellowed out a long sigh, "Love is a horrible thing isn't it?"

He swallowed down a mouthful of blood and saliva and furthered his attention, trying to make sense of what his Boss was talking about.

"It makes an individual so incredibly vulnerable. It…opens up your body and heart and that simply means that someone can get inside and screw your functioning up," Joker stood from his spot and paced mesmerizingly in front of Curs spot. "You build up these giant defenses to block away that dreaded love, a whole suit of shining armor so that way nothing can ever hurt you. But then one day, one little slip, this stupid person, no different from any other stupid and idiotic person, comes wandering into your life…and it just happens that you give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for that piece of you, you just give it to them. They do something so inconceivably dumb one day like…smile at you, and then your mundane life isn't your own anymore, never again. Love takes hostages my friend. It somehow seeps inside of you. And it eats you out, leaving you crying in the blind darkness, to the point of where you hope that they never say, 'maybe we should just be friends' which turns into a glass splinter that jabs and thrusts never endingly into your worthless heart! It hurts, and not just in your imagination, not just in the mind. It's a soul hurt, a real gets inside of you and rips you apart pain that will never end, no matter how far you get away from it. I hate love."

Cur blinked and chocked a little in his breathing, indicating that he had something to say.

"Yes Cur?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Joker stopped in his pacing thoughts and pushed his hands into the coat pockets of his suit. He stood quietly, pondering his own thoughts and actions until he finally broke the stirring silence, "Because it's hard to tell your mind to stop loving someone, when you're heart still does. It's even hard for me, but I wouldn't tell that to just anyone Cur. You should consider yourself a lucky person. As for Harley loving me and not you…all I can say is that life always and ever will be…just a game. And in the end, I won."

Cur dropped his gaze to the floor and let a few more wet tears stroll down his cheeks, "The only reason you tell me, is because you're going to kill me…isn't it?"

"Not quite, I'm not going to kill you. But you are right, in the end you'll die, and I'm glad you understand."

He closed his eyes hard and cleared his mind for a moment, "But why did you tell me…why did you feel the need to tell me. If in the end I am going to die, then why did you explain to me your feelings?"

"Harley!" he called out before answering the question given to him, "You know this reminds me of an old joke…not too funny and not too long. You see there's an Eskimo and a priest sitting together at a table, where it doesn't really matter. And the Eskimo asks, 'If I didn't know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' the priest considers the modest question and then replies, 'No, not if you didn't know.' The Eskimo now looks the priest dead in the eyes, 'Then why did you tell me?'

Harley entered happily, "You called Mistah J?"

Joker reached into his pocket and revealed a gun before tossing it over to Harley, "Make it quick," he commanded as he made his way over to the exit door to leave. As he opened the door he listened to the fumbling of the gun in her hands, the readying and preparing of what his Harley was about to do. He left the building and was reunited with the salty air around him; he then heard the familiar gunshot shoot. He smiled taking his time to walk aimlessly down the long dock and to the end, outstretched into the ocean, looking over all the depth-ridden blues and greens it showed. As the tail of his coat blew around him in flailing but majestic qualities, he felt that angel wing wrap around him once again.

"All finished Mistah J," she proudly noted, handing him back the gun and smiling briefly up at him until she noticed his smile wasn't as awe inspiring and grand as it used to be, "Puddin', what's the matter?"

"Do you remember what I told you at Arkham? About fear?" he asked in almost a daze, his eyes transfixed on the horizon line where the water met the sky, mingling together, such unlike qualities that actually merged into a fantastic unity.

"You said to me, that I could either follow my fears, or stay in my office and keep living a lie. So that's what I'm doin, I'm following my fears. I don't want to lie anymore."

Joker giggled and looked down at her bright eyes and then back up at the sky, "You see the stars Harl, they remind me of a mind. You can see it, just sitting there, minding its own business. And sometimes you want to touch it, just to see what it feels like…you want to grasp that star and see what it really is. But you can't, because no matter how close you get to it, the further it runs away."

Harley stood in front of him and pressed her back against his stomach looking up at the same stars and horizon line; comfortable in the essence of the man she deeply loved.

"It runs away because in the end, it cannot change, be subjugated, or broken. You see, in order to break a star, the star needs to decide on its own to break, to burst. You can't force that star to burst Harley, no matter how hard you try, you can't."

"Why?"

He opened his hand up for her to take, and once she placed hers within his, he whispered quietly for both of them to hear, "Because, love is a decision, not an emotion."

_The End_

* * *

_I will leave this ending note short and simple. While writing this chapter, I had no intention of this being the ending one. It just worked out that way. I would like to explain, that some of you may be thinking that this ended quite suddenly, in all reality it has! But I got my point across, I won't explain it here, I did the explaining within the story, hopefully you all have gained that point._

_In conclusion, I'd love to thank all of my reviewers and especially Alex Snape for listening to me, and helping me with some of the more complex parts. Which she probably didn't even know she was doing haha._

_Thank you for reading, please leave an ending review with your thoughts, comments, hatred, whatever you want to write. Anyways, I hope you greatly enjoyed To Break A Mind!_


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